


ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ

by gracehateseggnog



Series: ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ [1]
Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Album: folklore (Taylor Swift), Angst, Apocalypse, Awkward Romance, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Bloaters (The Last of Us), Canon Timeline, Clickers (The Last Of Us), Ellie & Joel Bonding (The Last of Us), Ellie Angst (The Last of Us), Ellie Needs a Hug (The Last of Us), F/M, Firefly References, Fluff, Good Parent Joel (The Last of Us), Inspired by The Last of Us (Video Games), Joel Lives (The Last of Us), M/M, No Sex, No Smut, No The Last of Us (Video Games) Knowledge Required, Parent Joel (The Last of Us), Post-Apocalypse, Protective Joel (The Last of Us), Romance, Runners (The Last of Us), Softie Joel (The Last of Us), Song: epiphany (Taylor Swift), Stalkers (The Last Of Us), Suicide, The Last of Us Spoilers, Wordcount: 50.000-100.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 37
Words: 87,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28779192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracehateseggnog/pseuds/gracehateseggnog
Summary: Joel Miller knows he has nothing. Outbreak day comes and he decides to leave his daughter safe in the house, rushing down to the hospital. Before the explosion, he meets one of the doctors, and after Sarah's death, they stay on the run together alongside Tommy Miller, Joel's brother.A while later, whilst on the run, the woman got caught up with a lot of FEDRA officers, and Joel never saw her again.Until Ellie.
Relationships: Bill/Frank (The Last of Us), Ellie/Riley (The Last of Us), Joel (The Last of Us)/Original Female Character(s), Maria/Tommy (The Last of Us)
Series: ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2200722
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. ★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **PROLOGUE : HOMETOWN**  
★

Joel Miller ran through the decimated towns, dodging the seemingly insane people running past him. They had fungi growing out of their skin, and he needed to make sure Tommy was okay, because the last thing he had heard from him was the fact that he was at the hospital where they first reported the infection _._ Joel had no clue what was going on, and he hoped that he had double locked the doors for Sarah in their house. Bombs blew up everywhere around him, and he struggled to breathe throughout the smoke. Finally, he came to a clearing through the buildings, and saw the hospital. The once boarded up door was open, and a woman coughing was holding it open, waving people out who hadn't gotten bitten or breathed in the airborne disease.

"Hey! What the hell is going on?!" Joel yelled, approaching the nurse with a mad look. She looked almost as scared as he felt, he only then saw the terror in her eyes. The nurse looked at him, coughing due to the smoke.

"We can't give you that information sir-"

"I'll ask you one more time." He demanded menacingly, leaning back to let more and more healthy people file out. "What in the goddamn hell is going on?"

She shrunk down under the man's tall height, looking down at the ground and back up at him with a worried glance. "We don't know." Joel's eyes softened. "The cordyceps virus most commonly found in ants has mutated, and is taking over the cells of the human brain. I have no clue what this is, but you need to leave." She spoke, eyes growing weary from the night sky.

"My brother is in there!" He yelled, stumbling as another bomb went off near them. His ears began to ring, he could barely hear any of the screams and insane wails anymore. Before the nurse could open her mouth again, they caught a glance of one of the infected people running towards them down the hospital hallway.

The two worked together to push the metal doors shut and barricade them with a fallen tree. "I'm sorry, but if your brother is still in there, we can't get him. The disease is airborne, contracted by spores. That hospital is a hotspot for everything. You need to go." She said, plugging her ears as another blast sounded.

"There's no way in hell I'm going without my brother, lady." She sighed, not appreciating this man's stubbornness.

"What's your name?" She yelled, gasping for breath. An infected man came at her, causing her to grab a loose metal scalpel out of her scrub pants pocket and stab it a few times in the neck, letting it fall to the ground.

The nurse turned back to Joel, half of her face now dripping with blood. "Joel Miller. My brother's name is Tommy Miller." She nodded, seeming to remember the name.

"He came in for a check-up. You're lucky, we declined him because of the amount of people flooding in. He isn't in there." Joel breathed a sigh of relief, pressing his back against a tree. "You need to go, sir. This is only going to get worse." She said, pulling off a few branches of trees. "Here." She said, handing him a few. "Stab them wherever, but if there's more mutated ones that make clicking noises, stab them in the neck."

Joel nodded, taking the sharp sticks and running alongside the nurse. She looked at him with a confused look on her face. "You need to get out of the state. Canada, preferably."

"Sarah..." He breathed, beginning to hyperventilate. Without another word towards the woman, he ran down the road, stabbing infected people left and right. He found the street he was looking for after a while, blood staining every article of clothing he wore. Joel unlocked his house and found Sarah, grasping her arm tightly and taking her out of the house.

"Dad? What's going on?"

"C'mon. We gotta get out of here." He spoke firmly, scaring Sarah a bit. "We're going to go find Uncle Tommy and-" Joel's words were interrupted as he got tackled by an infected person, separating the two's linked hands.

"Dad!" Sarah yelled, exhaustion from a late night laced through her tone. Joel hadn't seen an infected like the one he was fighting off before, so he took the nurse's advice and stabbed it in the neck. It wailed across his body for a moment before falling off, limp in a heap on the ground.

Joel grabbed a hold of Sarah again and noticed her bleeding leg, hearing her cry out in pain was the worst thing he could've ever imagined hearing in his life. He cradled her behind a small hill, a fearful look on his face.

Before he could calm her down, two more infected came running after them, this time, they were the _normal_ ones, if you could even call them normal. Joel picked up Sarah in his arms and began running again, only to hear two gunshots. He turned around and faced a military officer with two dead infected at his feet.

"Hey!" He yelled, getting the officer's attention. "We need help!"

"Stop!" The soldier yelled, stopping Joel from his frantic movements towards him. He held up his gun towards Joel.

"Please, it's my daughter; I think her leg is broken."

The military officer pointed his gun further towards the two. "Okay... we're not... _sick_ " He explained, trying to hold his hands up in surrender without dropping Sarah.

"We've got two civilians in the outer perimeter, please advise." The officer spoke through his radio, still holding the gun up at Joel and Sarah.

Quietly, Joel's daughter spoke. "Daddy, what about uncle Tommy?"

"We're gonna get you to safety and go back for him, okay?" Sarah nodded, a fearful look against her eyes. Joel had the same look of worry in his eyes, but he hid it with a strong look, trying to set an example for his young daughter.

"Sir, there's a little girl..." The officer spoke through the radio again, undoubtedly gaining instruction from his superior. "But- Yes sir." He responded, looking back at the father-daughter duo

"Listen, buddy, we've been through hell. Okay, we just need-"

Joel's endless begging was cut off by the officer lifting up his gun again, aiming it directly at the two again.

"Oh shit." Joel said, his side enveloping in a red hot heat as the bullet lodged in his stomach. He heard Sarah scream and drop from his arms. They both rolled to the ground as the officer ran up to them, pointing the gun to Joel's head.

"Please don't..." Joel begged, holding his side with one arm and extending his other with his last bit of strength. He heard a gunshot and the soldier collapsed beside him.

Joel looked up and saw Tommy alongside the nurse he had seen earlier, both holding guns in their hands. "Oh, no..." Joel's brother whispered, looking at Sarah's limp figure. The nurse walked down to her, brushing her hair out of her face and checking her heartbeat.

Joel crawled towards Sarah, watching her whimper in pain as she grasped her father's shoulder in pain. "Sarah... Move your hands baby!" He said, watching as she wiggled around and showed him her gunshot wound. The nurse gasped and ripped off her sleeve of her scrubs, pressing it against the open gash to try and stop the bleeding. "God! Listen to me, I know this hurts, you're gonna be okay baby! Stay with me!" Joel pleaded, lifting Sarah's head off of the ground.

The nurse ripped off her shirt, revealing a white tee underneath. She wrapped it around Sarah's torso and continued to try and stop the bleeding.

"I'm gonna pick you up, I know baby, I know it hurts..." He spoke, trying desperately to pick his daughter up. "Come on baby! Please!" Joel begged, cringing every time Sarah whimpered and groaned in pain.

Then, as the nurse just began to help pick Sarah up, she went fully limp in his arms. The woman felt her neck for a heartbeat but came up with nothing as her chest stopped moving.

"Sarah!" He screamed, letting Tommy pull him away from the dead body of his only daughter. The woman followed the two down the trail and into the trees, stopping in a small clearing.

"We need to keep moving. I'm sorry and I know how you feel but-"

"How?!" Joel yelled, getting in the nurse's face. "How the _hell_ could you know how I feel?" He asked, tears streaming down his face.

The woman sighed. "That's none of your business, Joel Miller. Now we need to get moving." She demanded, grasping ahold of her pistol and shooting one of the infected behind Joel.

Tommy and Joel followed her through the trees, running from the infected, and the government.

"I don't even know her name, how the shit am I supposed to trust her with my life?" Joel whispered to Tommy, watching him shake his head.

"Elva." The nurse turned around, facing the two brothers with a stern look written on her face. "My name is Elva Stone."


	2. ★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: THE QUARANTINE ZONE  
** ★★

_"Go!" Elva yelled, her hands pinned behind her back by FEDRA officers. Tommy attempted to shoot at the three of them, but they shot his shoulder in return. Joel held a sniper in one of the buildings, his hands shaking due to his fear of losing his friend._

_"Elva!" Tommy yelled, falling to the floor as another two gunshots hit him, one in the thigh and the other in his shin._

_The woman was laying on the ground, the barrel of one of the officer's guns pressed against her head. "Go back to Joel, now!" She yelled, watching him crouch down and attempt to crawl away into the shadows._

_Elva screamed in pain as they pulled her up onto her feet, her arm riddled with two bullets, excruciating pain bubbling up her shoulder. Joel placed his sniper against his back, jumping out the side window and meeting Tommy._

_He watched as Elva was continuously kicked in the head until she passed out, blood seeping from every inch of her face. Her body went limp, eyes rolling to the back of her head due to the blood loss. Joel attempted to scramble towards her, but one of the officers hiding in the trees shot him dead in the side, grazing him slightly, but it was enough for him to fall down in pain._

_"Get her out of here. Fuckin' firefly-lover." They picked her up and loaded her into their van, leaving Tommy and Joel to watch after her._

_"She'll be fine. She's a badass, and you know that." Tommy explained, grunting in pain as he got up. "C'mon now-"_

_"No."_

_Tommy looked at Joel in disbelief. "What do you mean 'no'? Joel you need to get back with me to Jackson. You've never been-"_

_"I'm going on my own now, Tommy."_

_"And what the hell made you think that you can handle yourself?"_

_Joel glared at his brother. He loved Tommy, but he got on his nerves quite a lot. "I don't think I can go on with the whole Firefly thing, Tom. You go off and do whatever. Go settle down in Jackson. Let me be."_

_Tommy scoffed. "This is about Elva, isn't it?" Joel looked at him in confusion. "You've been in love with her since you left Texas."_

_"No. I haven't Tommy. This isn't about her. This is about you. You deserve that goddamn apple pie life. I don't want that. You know that."_

_His brother rolled his eyes. "You had that life before the infection. So, the infection came, you didn't want that life. Elva came, you wanted that life. Now that she's gone you don't want that life anymore!" Tommy yelled. "When the hell are you going to figure out what you want in life, Joel?"_

_"Not anytime soon, Tommy."_

_"Well you better start thinking. You ain't getting any younger here, Joel."_

_Joel sighed. "Go to Jackson. You belong there, Tommy. I'll just- I'll find a city to stay in or something, try to find Elva."_

_"Joel-"_

_"Just, leave me. Okay?" Joel spoke, looking his brother in the eyes. "I'm sure we'll meet again sometime."_

_Tommy nodded, not even sparing a goodbye as he walked away towards where Joel assumed the way to Jackson was. He sighed and turned back, pressing himself up against a building and trying to patch up his wounds._

_"We got another one!"_

**TWENTY YEARS LATER**

Joel woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily. It had been the same dream, plaguing his sleepless nights for the past decades. He did what he told Tommy he would do. He looked for Elva, but all ends came up dead, and he only assumed they had either killed her or taken her to another base somewhere out of the United States. Joel hoped for the latter.

As usual, he slept in his clothes. It was efficient if any FEDRA officers decided to do a raid, or if any infected decided to jump through the window.

A knock from his apartment door snapped him from his thoughts. A few more got him a bit more annoyed than he already was. "I'm coming." He announced, walking up and opening his apartment door.

Tess walked in, grasping one of Joel's liquor bottles and pouring a drink. "How was your morning?" She asked, sipping down the drink. "Want one?"

"No, I don't... want one." He spoke softly, not wanting to get blackout drunk so early in the morning. Especially not with Tess.

"Well, I have some interesting news for you." She stated, rolling her eyes.

"Where were you, Tess?" Joel asked, only then just realizing her bad face wounds. He winced, remembering Elva's face when she was taken.

"West End district." Tess explained, rolling her eyes as Joel looked at her with a condescending face. "Hey, we had a drop to make."

" _We. We_ had a drop to make." He explained, pointing his index finger towards his chest as he spoke.

"Yeah, well, you wanted to be left alone, remember?" He watched as Tess doused a rag in alcohol and cleaning her face wounds, wincing every now and then due to the sting of the alcohol.

"So, I'll take one guess." He proposed, sitting down on a chair. "The whole deal went south, and the client made off with our pills. Is that about right?" Joel asked cockily, tilting his head as his Texan accent came through thicker.

"Deal went off without a hitch." Tess responded, smirking at Joel. "Enough ration cards to last us a couple of months- easy."

They stayed in silence for a few moments. "You want to explain this?" Joel asked, pointing towards her face.

"I was on my way back here, and I got jumped by these two assholes, alright?" She explained, continuing to clean her face wounds. "Yeah, they got a few good hits in. But... look, I managed."

"Are these assholes still with us?" He bounced back.

"Now that's funny." Tess rolled her eyes, patting the last of the dried blood off of her face before moving onto the bigger cuts.

"Did you find out who they were?" Joel asked, more serious that time than before.

"Yeah, look, they were a couple of nobodies- they don't matter." Tess explained, smirking at Joel's scoff. "What matters is that Robert fucking sent them."

"Our Robert?"

Tess nodded, taking another swig of her drink. "He knows that we're after him. He figures he's gonna get us first."

"That son of a bitch, he's smart." Joel admitted, stealing her drink and sipping it briefly.

"No." She spoke, startling Joel. "He's not smart enough. I know where he's hiding." Tess stated, looking Joel dead in the eyes.

"Like hell you do."

"Old warehouse in Area 5." Tess replied, peeling the damp rag off of her face and setting it back down on the table, finishing her drink. "Can't say for how long, though."

"Well, I'm ready now. Yeah?" Joel asked, standing up. Tess did the same, both of them walking over to the door.

"Oh. I can do it now." They both walked out the door, Tessa never knowing what had happened just before she walked into the apartment.


	3. ★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: WE'RE SMUGGLING HER?  
** ★★★

Joel and Tess walked alongside a hurt Marlene, entering a small room beneath the bridge in the city. The past few hours had been a wreck, but they were more concerned for Marlene than themselves at that point.

"Go on. Get inside." The woman rasped, clutching at her side in pain.

"Where are we going, Marlene?" Tess asked.

Marlene took a moment to respond, still gasping on air. "This way. It's not far now." She was strong, but there was still a bullet in her hip.

"How are you holding up?" The other woman asked, brushing the hair stuck in her face back into her bandana.

"I'm running on fumes, but I'll make it." Marlene answered. "The place is right up ahead."

 _"Attention. Curfew is now in full effect. Anyone caught outside without the proper authorization will be arrested and prosecuted."_ The announcement loudspeaker spoke, crackling in between words.

The three of them immediately became more panicked. "Shit. We need to hurry." Tess exclaimed, walking alongside Marlene faster and faster.

"What the hell are we smuggling?" Joel asked, voice muffled under his thick brown beard.

"I'll show you." Marlene spoke, almost in a whimper. "Joel, give me a hand with this." He nodded and helped her into a back room of a warehouse.

Joel picked Marlene up as she stumbled, her vision spotting ever so slightly. "Woah, woah, woah... Come on now, get up."

"Get the fuck away from her!" A young girl's voice called out, immediately followed by a knife waved near Joel's face. Tess stopped her before she could stab him, though.

"Let her go." Marlene rasped, coughing.

"You're recruitin' kind of young, aren't ya?" Joel asked, watching as the girl, who couldn't be older than fifteen, scanned Marlene.

"She's not one of mine."

The girl glanced at her friend's hip wound. "Shit. What happened?" She asked, concerned.

"Don't worry. This is fixable." Marlene responded, leaning her head back and forth. "I got us some help, but I can't come with you."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Well then I'm staying."

"No you're not, Ellie." A woman stepped out from the shadows of the warehouse, something in her eyes was familiar to Joel. "These people can help us."

"Why can't I just go with you?"

"Because I'm not going anywhere alone. If I get bit, you're gonna be all out alone in that world." She answered. Joel swore that the more she talked the more he recognized her, he just couldn't put his finger on it. "Ellie. We won't get another shot at this."

One out of two things clicked in Joel's head at that moment. "We're smuggling her?"

"There's a crew of Fireflies that'll meet you at the Capitol Building." Marlene answered, breathing out of her mouth. "She knows the way."

Marlene pointed to the woman. "That's not exactly close." Tess replied, leaning against the wall of the warehouse.

"You're capable." She snarkily responded. "You hand them off, come back, the weapons are yours. Double what Robert sold me."

Tess glanced at Joel. "Speaking of which..." She started, looking back at Marlene and the girl. "Where are they?"

"Back in our camp."

"We're not smuggling shit until I see them."

Marlene sighed. "You'll follow me. You can verify the weapons. I can get patched up by her." She spoke, pointing to the older woman beside her. "But she's not crossing to that part of town. I want Joel and El' to watch over her."

"Woah, woah. I don't think that's the best idea." Joel spoke, still not recognizing the woman beside the child.

"No. She's not going alone with him and me. What if he gets bit? He could be a total creep for all we know!" The woman exclaimed.

"Hey!"

"Yeah. She's right." The girl butted in. "I'm not going with him."

"Ellie...." Marlene sighed, still clutching onto her hip. "I was close with his brother, Tommy. Said if I was ever in a jam I could rely on him."

"Wait a fucking second." The woman spoke, a confused look on her face. "Tommy? What the hell is your last name." Silence. "Tell me right now." She yelled, looking Joel in the eyes.

"Miller."

"Holy fucking shit." She exclaimed, sitting down next to Marlene and burying her forehead into her hands. "No fucking way."

"How the hell do you know them?" Ellie asked, looking at her friend.

She sighed, rubbing her face before standing up again. "Elva Stone."

With those two words Joel realized that the woman standing in front of him was his old friend. The woman who had helped him after his daughter passed away. The woman who had cared for him even with his psychopathic tendencies. The woman who had got taken by FEDRA, and never heard of again.

Silence riddled the room, until Joel spoke up. "Where have you been?"

"Here." She said nonchalantly. "Five years of slavery and shit from FEDRA, the Fireflies picked me up."

"Why the hell didn't you come to Tommy? Or me?"

Elva stayed silent, looking back at Marlene and to Tess. "Look. If we just take Ellie to the north tunnel, we can wait for the other chick there."

"I have a name."

"Frankly, I don't give a shit." She responded.

Joel rolled his eyes. "Jesus Christ."

"She's just cargo, if you think about it." Elva stated. "All you need to do is take us there, drop her off, boom. Done. No more no less."

"Elva. Marlene!" Ellie yelled, desperate not to go with Joel.

"No more talking." Marlene spoke. "You'll be fine. Now go with him." Ellie nodded, walking over alongside Elva towards the door.

"Don't take long." Joel demanded, pointing at Tess. "And you two..." He stopped, looking into Elva's eyes with little emotion. "Stay close. Let's go."

If anything Joel had remembered about Elva Stone was important, it was the tells she gave when she lied.

So where was she _really_ in the last twenty years?


	4. ★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: KILLING TIME  
** ★★★★

Ellie, Joel, and Elva made their way outside of the garage where Marlene and Tess were, walking over pavement overgrown with ivy and plants.

The three were met immediately with the horrid smell and sight of Firefly corpses rotting on the ground, bullet holes through every body part you could see and a blood pool staining the greenery underneath them.

Ellie grimaced at the sight, but both Joel and Elva had stone cold faces. Joel remembered a time when she would wince at every zombie they had to kill. He wondered what had changed in his old friend.

"I heard all the shooting, but what happened?" Ellie asked, looking at one of the dead bodies slumped across an electrical box. She picked up one of the Firefly pendants, placing it in her pocket for safe keeping.

"The Fireflies." Joel answered, watching as the young girl he was smuggling gazed at the Firefly necklace she had picked up. He truly had no clue why she was so infatuated with them, but she'd be gone soon, along with Elva, so he didn't have to worry.

Elva continued walking, her black ankle-boots brushing against the greenery growing under her feet. "Same thing is gonna happen to us if we don't get off of this street."

"You guys are the pros, I'm just following you." Ellie stated, placing the Firefly pendant back in her pocket and standing up again.

They made their way through the path of dead bodies, stepping down a staircase that was fenced off.

 _"Attention. Harboring or aiding wanted criminals is punishable by death."_ A voice spoke through the loudspeakers. Each building was surrounded by speakers, just for FEDRA to take complete control. _"Do not place yourself at risk. Report any suspicious activity immediately."_

Joel led the other two down into an underground tunnel which looked like some form of subway. "Down here."

It was incredibly dingy, and Ellie audibly gagged at the smell of rotting bodies and dead runners. They turned to the side and walked up a smaller set of stairs. Joel waved his hand down and Elva crouched down behind him, signaling for Ellie to do the same.

"C'mon, keep up." Joel spoke.

"I am." Ellie responded, looking through the fence holes. A few FEDRA trucks drove by, and as the road beside them became deserted, the group stood up and continued walking along normally.

"Joel, cut her some slack. She's been through hell and back." Elva stated, leaving the man in front of her in silence. That woman had been with him for a lot of her struggles, what the hell did that kid go through that Joel didn't?

"Where are we going?" Ellie asked as they entered through a gate. They walked into another dark alleyway, surrounded by brick houses overgrown with millions of different plant types.

"Up there, that'll take us to the North tunnel." Joel answered, looking up at the fire escape staircase. The stairs that would normally reach down to the pavement ground were burnt off, meaning they had no real way up.

"How are we supposed to reach that?" Ellie asked.

Elva slammed a dumpster into one of the columns holding the fire escape up. "This way." She spoke, jumping up from the dumpster onto the platform. Elva quickly helped Ellie up before standing to the side and letting Joel pull himself onto the ledge.

"Are we gonna be pulling stunts like that the whole time?" Joel asked.

"Do you want your weapons or not?" Elva asked, shutting her old friend up as they walked up the stairs.

Ellie followed the two adults into one of the apartment buildings. "This tunnel, you use it to smuggle things?" She asked.

"Yep." Joel answered.

"Like illegal things?"

"Sometimes." He spoke, getting fairly annoyed by the kid he had to take to the Capitol Building. He assumed that having another person going with him and Ellie would be easier to deal with, but oh boy, was he wrong.

"Have you ever smuggled a kid before?"

"No, that's a first." Elva and the other two walked through the apartment building, passing rooms that were once full of life, and now their doors were stained with blood and grime from the years that they'd been unused. "So, what's the deal with you two?"

"She was-"

Elva interrupted Ellie quickly, raising suspicion in Joel. "I know Marlene, she knows Marlene, put two and two together, and you've got your answer."

"So your mutual friends with the leader of the Fireflies. What are you, like twelve?"

"Marlene knew my mom, and she's been looking after me." Ellie corrected. "And I'm fourteen, not that that has anything to do with this."

Joel scoffed, knowing that it had everything to do with their situation. "So, where are your parents?"

"You can't just fucking ask the kid where her parents are, Joel." Elva spat as they passed through a corridor full of windows and began walking up another staircase.

"I could be asking you where the fuck you were the last twenty years, but I'm not, so can it." He responded, his voice laced with an equal amount of venom as Elva's.

Ellie stayed quiet behind them, but she _hated_ the silence that drowned the group, so she answered Joel's question in a simple sentence. "They've been gone a long, long time." Both of the adults knew that it was much deeper than that, it was for everyone, but Joel didn't press about her parents.

"So instead of staying in school, you decide to run off and join the Fireflies, is that it?"

"Look, I'm not supposed to tell you why you're smuggling me, if that's what you're getting at." Ellie stated, looking out the windows they passed as they continued to traverse down the narrow hallways.

"You wanna know the best thing about my job? I don't gotta know why. To be honest with you, I could give two shits about what you're up to." Joel stated. "Honestly, I'm more concerned with why she's here, and she's not even the one I need to take." He spoke, pointing his thumb at Elva.

"Shut the hell up, Joel, you give a rat's ass about what happened to me." She exclaimed, brushing the dirt and dust off of her jeans.

"Not true."

"I beg to differ."

Silence succumbed the group as they almost reached the end of the hallway, Ellie tried to occupy her mind by looking out the window at the FEDRA-infiltrated city, but it didn't work, silence had always unnerved her.

Joel opened the door to one of the apartments and let Ellie and Elva in, shutting the door loudly behind him. It was the rendezvous point. They'd have to stay until Tess arrived.

"This is it." He spoke, laying down on the couch. The walls were lined with baby blue wallpaper, but because of the age and grime that had sat on it for years, it looked less bright and colourful, and more sad and depressing.

"What're you doing?" Elva asked, watching as Joel sighed and placed his head against the sofa pillow, letting his eyes flutter shut.

"Killing time."

"Well, what are we supposed to do...?" Ellie inquired.

"I'm sure you will figure that out." Joel responded snarkily, pushing his body further into the couch as his mind drifted in and out of consciousness.

Ellie looked around as Elva slumped down against the wall and watched the window. It was eerily calming, the post-apocalyptic world. At least, the parts of the world that were controlled.

"Your watch is broken." Ellie pointed out, shaking her head as she sat next to Elva.

Joel let out a sharp intake of breath, remembering Sarah for a short moment before closing his mind to any intrusive thoughts.

The last thing he heard before drifting off into a not-so-blissful sleep were the words that Elva spoke to Ellie. "It'll be okay. He'll get us to the Capitol. I know him, he never backs down from a challenge."


	5. ★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: I'M NOT INFECTED  
** ★★★★★

Joel's eyes abruptly opened. He searched his mind to remember where he was. The dingy apartment, the young teenager and the adult woman sitting next to the window, it pieced together and he forgot about the nightmare he had moments before.

"You still mumble in your sleep." Elva spoke, letting Joel sit up slowly to face the two girls on the couch. They had moved it to face the window and watch the rain pour down.

Ellie was resting her head on Elva's shoulder, fluttering her eyes and trying to fight her exhaustion. "I hate bad dreams."

"Yeah, me too." Joel admitted, rubbing his face with his palm. He stood up, walking behind the couch that the two others laid on and watching out the window. Ellie sat straight up, leaning against the back of the couch rather than on Elva.

"You know, I've never been this close to the outside." Ellie stated, gesturing out the window. Rain was still splattering down on it as Joel walked to one of the counters and tried to get his lamp working. "Look at how dark it is. Can't be any worse out there, can it?"

"You wouldn't believe it." Elva stated, running her hand through Ellie's hair softly to try and sooth the teenager.

Joel looked at them skeptically before scoffing, still not understanding the kind of relationship they shared. She must've appeared in the twenty years that Elva was gone from his life. "What on Earth do the Fireflies want with you?"

Before Ellie could answer, Tess walked in, earning an eye roll from Elva as she and the young girl stood up from the couch.

"Hey. Sorry it took so long, there are soldiers fuckin' everywhere." Tess stated, shutting the door to the apartment behind her as she walked up to Joel, Elva and Ellie.

"How's Marlene?" Elva asked, a deadpan on her face.

Tess took a deep breath, really not wanting to talk to the woman across from her, frankly, she got on her nerves, but so did everyone. "She'll make it." She spoke, turning to Joel. "I saw the merchandise, it's a lot. Wanna do this?"

Elva stepped closer to Ellie, raising a hand on her shoulder in comfort. She knew the young teenager well, and she knew that in situations where two adults were discussing her like she wasn't in the room, she became _very_ uncomfortable.

"Yeah." Joel agreed.

"Let's go."

And with that, the group of four walked into another room of the apartment. Elva stayed close to the door with Ellie, and Tess stayed at the window, scouting the streets for FEDRA soldiers at any stop.

"Don't you think it's a bit strange that they're having us do their smugglin'?" Joel asked Tess, standing awkwardly near the door.

Tess sighed. "Marlene wanted to do it herself. We weren't the first choice, or the second for that matter." She stated. "She's lost a lot of men. Beggars can't be choosers."

Elva looked at Ellie, a hopeful smile on her face as they drowned out the other's conversation. "They'll get you there."

"But what'll happen to you? Y'know, after we get there?" Ellie asked, worried for her friend. Joel glanced at the two, but quickly turned back to talking to Tess.

"I'll be there, every step of the way." Joel eavesdropped, it was a habit he needed to live in the world he lived in, and he knew by the tone in Elva's voice that she truly didn't know what was going to happen after Ellie was taken to the Fireflies.

Ellie smiled and they continued watching out the windows.

"Come on." Tess stated, leading the other three through a large break in the wall and towards a generator.

Elva leant down and pulled on the cord a few times, trying to start it up again. Joel noticed that she had pulled her long, blonde hair into a ponytail while he was asleep. He remembered how she used to always have short hair, no matter what circumstances she was under.

Joel walked to one of the brick walls and pressed a green button, sending a large noise through the room. "Who's waitin' for us at the drop off?" He asked Tess.

"She said there's some Fireflies that have traveled all the way from another city." The floor began moving down, they were standing on a makeshift elevator. "The girl must be important." Tess looked to Ellie and Elva. "What's the deal with you two? You bigwig and you bigwig's daughter or something?"

"Something like that." Elva answered, not wanting to give a direct answer until she and Joel could talk one-on-one directly. It didn't look like she was going to get the chance, but she needed to explain what the hell happened years and years ago, and why she was with Ellie.

"How long is this all gonna take?" The teenager asked as the elevator stopped and revealed a brick corridor. The pavement flooring was littered with old newspapers and empty cans of soda, and it reeked of different horrible smells.

"If everything goes as planned, we should get you to them in a few hours." Tessa answered, Elva and Ellie following shortly behind her and Joel as they made their way through the wooden debris. "You two, once we get out there, I need you to follow our lead and stay close."

Elva looked at the stained walls, pitying the world that had been transformed. "Yeah, sounds like a plan."

They ducked down into a small opening into a tunnel. Everyone crouched down and continued following Joel, who had stopped to pick up a few slips of paper that could have important information littered on the ground.

The tunnel finally ended and they stood up, cracking their knees and remaining in a comfortable silence as they climbed up one of the metal ladders. Joel went first, Tess went second, and Ellie went third, letting Elva stay in the back in case someone decided to attack.

"Climb up and check if the coast is clear." Tess spoke, letting Joel peak up from the top of the ladder to scan the surroundings. He pushed up a slab of metal from over his head, immediately spotting a patrol quite a ways away.

"Now, hold up." He spoke. "There's a patrol up ahead."

The others rested on the ladder, waiting for Joel to give them a signal to go after him and out into the ruined streets.

"Alright, we're good. Come on up." He stated, climbing up onto the rocky pavement, Tess, Elva, and Ellie following shortly behind. "C'mon, kid. Watch your step." Joel quickly pulled the metal sheet back over the Outskirts opening to avoid suspicion.

The little water droplets of rain patted across their faces and hair, beginning to drench their clothing. "This rain isn't going to help us much." Elva stated, brushing the side bangs out of her eyes.

"Oh yeah, and what do you want me to do about that, huh? A little rain dance?" Tess asked sarcastically, waving her hands around in detail.

Before they could get into a fighting match in the street, Ellie cursed in happiness, a look of awe on her face. "Holy shit, I'm actually outside."

They walked down a broken pathway, surrounded by empty and forgotten storage containers used to hide from FEDRA.

"Up this way." Joel spoke, walking through one of the containers.

Elva had moved up directly behind Joel, leaving Ellie and Tess to walk beside each other. Joel stepped out of the end of the container, only to be hit with an assault rifle, he fell to the ground. Elva was hit as well, falling to the ground beside him and landing on her forearms.

The two groaned in pain as the FEDRA officers pointed their guns to Tess and Ellie, shining their rifle lights into their eyes. "Don't do anything stupid." One of the officers spoke.

"Move." The other demanded, stepping back and letting the two walk out of the container.

"Turn around. On your knees." Joel, Elva, Ellie and Tess did as they were told, facing their backs to the soldiers and soaking their pants in the rain and dirt on the pavement. "You scan em', I'll call it in."

They were going to scan for infection.

Elva looked worriedly at Ellie. Joel caught it, a look of confusion on his face. Why would she be concerned? Were they carrying an infected?

"Alright. Put your hands on your head." The officer spoke, holding his gun up to the group as they did what he asked.

The female officer began talking into her radio. "This is Ramirez at Sector Twelve. I'm requesting pickup for four stragglers." She paused. "Understood."

The male worker began scanning Tess, gun pressed against her head. "Look the other way, we can make this worth your while." She smirked, hands still rooted in her hair.

"Shut up." The officer demanded, scanning Joel next. "I'm getting tired of this shit."

He walked to Elva, gun pressed against the crook of her neck. "Could you get any closer there, bud?" She asked sarcastically, trying to mask her worry for Ellie.

"What's the ETA?" The soldier asked.

"Couple of minutes." The officer, Ramirez, replied.

He walked over to the teenager, the scanner beeping as it was held against her neck menacingly. "Oh, man. Oh, man." Ellie stabbed the officer in the leg. "Sorry!"

Joel and Elva leapt up as he knocked her to the ground. Joel tackled the officer before he could shoot, and Elva grabbed Ellie and shielded her behind one of the boxes, grabbing out her own pistol and shooting at the soldier under Joel.

"Oh, oh fuck!" Ellie exasperated, breathing heavily and almost hyperventilating as Elva crouched near her. "I thought we were just gonna hold them up or something."

Tess walked over to the scanner and picked it up, looking at the results, eyes widening in shock. "Oh, shit. Look." She stated, passing the scanner to Joel.

He took a quick look at it, watching as the lights flashed orange with the words _INFECTED_ on the screen. "Jesus Christ. Marlene set us up?" Joel asked rhetorically, inching closer to Tess with the scanner still in hand. "Why the hell are we smuggling an _infected_ girl and her mom?"

"I'm not infected!"

"And I'm not her mom!" Elva yelled, standing up to face Joel and Tess at eye level.

"No? So was this lying? And you just happen to be taking a fourteen year old kid to the Fireflies?" Joel asked, throwing the scanner to Ellie.

"I can explain everything!" Ellie retorted.

"You two better explain fast." Tess demanded, holding her gun up at Ellie. Elva cocked her gun and pointed it at Tess. She couldn't afford to lose the girl.

Ellie rolled up her sleeve, showing them the Runner bite she had gotten. "Look at this!"

"I don't care how you got infected." Joel snapped, walking a ways away.

"It's three weeks old!"

Tess scoffed in disbelief. "No. Everyone turns within two days, so stop bullshitting."

"She's not lying, why the fuck would Marlene set you up?" Elva asked, letting Tess become silent. It was a good point, she really didn't need the weapons, she needed more people willing to help the Fireflies.

"Wait, you fuckin' knew?" Joel asked, pointing at Elva.

"Of course I knew. What do you think, I'm just walking around with some kid I don't even know?" She retorted, disbelief on her face.

Joel looked at Elva in confusion and skepticism as Tess lowered her gun from Ellie, holding it back at her side.

"I ain't buyin' your little scheme here." Joel spoke, pointing at Elva again.

He turned around to spot a FEDRA truck on the way towards the group. "Oh, shit." He began backing away. "Run, run!" He yelled.

"Go! Move!" Tess screamed, the truck driving closer and closer to them as they began to break out into a sprint. Elva spotted Tess helping Ellie up, so she continued running shortly behind Joel.

"Fuck!" Elva yelled, jumping into a small tunnel after Joel.


	6. ★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: WHAT IF IT'S TRUE?  
** ★★★★★★

The hole in the road was wet and dingy, but Joel, Elva, Ellie and Tess made it down with barely a scratch on their knees. They started crouching down into one of the tunnels, Tess leading for once.

"Holy shit." One of the patrolmen exclaimed from above the hole.

"I got two dead uniforms. I repeat, two casualties in Sector Twelve." Another spoke into their radio. "Requesting immediate backup."

"We just talked to them a minute ago."

"Those fuckin' stragglers are around here somewhere." The patrolman seethed, you could hear the spit coming out violently. "Secure the area."

"Yes, sir."

They made it out of the tunnel and crouched behind a large piece of metal in the destroyed road. Thunder boomed down from the sky while tanks and patrolmen circled the areas around the group.

"Follow me." Tess stated. "Quickly." She took the lead, pistol still in hand. Joel looked back behind him, watching as Elva took the spot beside him with her own gun in hand. Ellie stayed a few meters away, still covered by the metal object.

"Alright, when I give you all the signal, we run." Tess spoke.

Everyone nodded, the rain splattering down their faces and staining their cheeks with loose water.

"Now. Run!" Tessa yelled. Joel followed shortly after her alongside Elva and Ellie. They covered under flipped cars and cargo containers as they ran. They jumped down into another sunken road, their feet becoming soaked by the water.

"Watch out for the lights." Elva pointed out, ducking low down to remain unseen. They jumped over another piece of debris.

Ellie caught her foot on one of the wires, wincing in pain. Elva stopped to help her, snapping the barbed wire in two before helping the teenager back over the piece of metal. Joel waited for the two, pressing the side of his shoulder against the rock to remain stable.

The four pressed their backs against a piece of wood, preparing to have to run through another tunnel. "It's gonna be another sprint. Everyone ready?"

Elva, Joel, and Ellie nodded and sprinted through the tunnel, dodging pieces of debris and trying not to trip over their own feet.

"Goddamnit! They're everywhere." Joel exclaimed, trying to catch his breath as they crawled down the tunnel. He made sure that Elva and Ellie were still behind them every few moments. He reminded himself that he just wanted the weapons, nothing more.

They jumped into the water, their torsos and legs becoming completely soaked. "Soldiers, up there." Ellie pointed out, watching as the flashlights covered the road up ahead.

"I see em', I see em'." Joel confirmed, following Tess and crouching behind a big metal cargo container. Elva and Ellie did the same, catching their breath as they eavesdropped on the soldier's talking.

"They must've gotten through. Check the trenches!" One yelled.

"Stay back." Joel stated, his voice hushed to a whisper.

"I don't see anything down there." The patrolmen spoke. "Are you sure they came this way?"

"Unless we're told otherwise, we keep scanning."

They hunched down, standing behind a piece of metal directly under one of the officers with their flashlights and guns equipped. Joel then took the lead, trying their best to avoid the flashlight beams as they attempted to navigate through the dirty trenches.

"You see anything?" Joel asked the women behind him, trying to stray as close as he could to the wall of rocks.

"Clear back here." Elva responded, now holding her pistol in hand. "How's it looking up ahead?" She asked.

"So far, so good."

Joel entered a broken building first, followed by the other three slowly. The water sat just above their knees, and Ellie tried not to sludge around in the muddy water and make too much noise.

They leaped up onto a board of wood and helped each other up. Joel held his hands up and let Elva place her foot down in first, pushing up and holding onto the ledge. She helped Ellie up whilst Joel helped Tess. Soon enough, they were all on the metal platform and out of the water, although the rain was still pouring through the broken ceiling.

The outside of the building looked like an old, burnt-down and destroyed building, the trenches running up and down and through each old house.

Elva immediately shushed everyone, spotting flashlights pouring through some of the holes in the old homes. "Listen."

"Ops said they took out a couple of our boys." One of them spoke, their flashlight visible as they scanned some of the stairs.

"Shit, stay down." Joel demanded, his voice in a whisper once again. They were closer than he assumed.

"It's gotta be those fucking Fireflies retaliating." Another soldier responded.

"We'll be done with them soon enough."

Joel and Elva hid behind one of the boxes, Tess and Ellie trailing a bit behind, not wanting to get seen by any of the flashlights. "Go, go!" Tess whisper-yelled as soon as one of the officers left their post.

"Fuck it, let the clicker's get 'em." The soldier from before exclaimed, seemingly leaving the group alone for now.

They walked through the mess of bricks and debris before jumping down onto an old house, kitchen tiles scattered around on the dirt floor.

"We can get through here." Joel stated, jumping through a broken window and looking around the house for any exits.

"Over here!" Elva whispered, pulling up the garage door chain with her arms and lifting it up for an easy escape. Joel winced at the loud noises it made, not wanting to attract any attention to the group.

Tess and Ellie ran through the door first, pulling it up from the other side to let Joel and Elva through the opening. The door dropped down with a large noise, and the group hid between a few cement road blocks.

"Yeah, Sergeant!" Someone yelled, alerting the four.

"Oh, shit. Another patrol!" Tess yelled.

"Get down, Ellie." Elva stated, crouching down behind an old police car and waiting for Joel's next move.

"You, check those buildings." One of the officers demanded.

"Roger."

Ellie sighed, trying to follow Elva as fast as she could. "There's so many of 'em out there, how're we supposed to get past 'em?" She asked.

"They ain't spotted us yet, let's go around." Joel responded. Elva smiled, remembering how much she missed her old friend's deep Texan accent.

They ducked between another building, poking their heads out the windows every few moments to make sure no officers had seen them yet.

"How's it look?" Elva asked, a little ways behind Joel.

"There's too many." He replied, picking up a brick and tossing it a few times in his hand before placing it in his backpack quickly. You never know what you'll need to fight back.

One of the patrol officer's flashlights shone right over Joel's head at the window, causing everyone behind him to duck down and wait for the beam of light to pass by.

"I see more lights." Ellie pointed out. Joel jumped out the window as soon as one of the soldiers passed, crouching behind him and jumping into another ruined building. Elva followed after him, taking Ellie's knife for a moment and slitting the officer's throat silently before continuing.

They weaved in and out of wooden debris, trying to get the officers to lose their tracks slowly. Joel jumped onto a wooden trailer and motioned the group to follow. "Through here, come on."

Elva, Tess, and Ellie jumped up after him, crouching behind a white van that was stained with dirt and grime.

"That was too damn close." Joel spoke, jumping down into some sort of drainage area below the trenches. "You better be worth it, kid. Tess, you got any idea which way?"

"Uh... it looks so different." She replied, everyone's hair getting drenched from the water pouring down from the road above.

"Hang on, let's see where this leads." Joel stated, crouching through an old pipe that was most likely used for sewer or water drainage. Whatever it was, it was dirty and gross, but they continued to push through it.

"Yeah, this looks right." Tess confirmed. "Stay close."

They walked up one of the staircases. "Well, at least we're out of the rain." Joel stated.

"How's it look?" Elva asked, looking through every wall to try and find an exit.

"I think we can squeeze through here." Joel spoke, motioning for the other three to follow him into a brick hole in the wall. They were outside again.

"Charlie Squad, report."

"Shit, shit. I got more soldiers." Joel explained. Everyone crouched back down again, avoiding the flashlights.

"Target's still on the loose, sir!" One of the officers yelled.

"Break off pursuit and report back to Sector Eleven."

Their voices trailed off, and the group continued walking down through the broken pathways. "I don't think they see us." Joel murmured.

"Acknowledged. Get to your vehicles!" The patrolman yelled. Their voices were no more than a muffle, so the group was free to walk normally again.

"Stay in the dark, Ellie." Elva spoke, pulling the teenager into the shade where it was less visible from the ground above them.

They made it into a ruined basement, overgrown with filth. The only things left in it were the odd toppled over locker and a few planks of wood.

"Are we safe?" Ellie asked Tess.

"No, they're still around." She answered, being strangely nice to the young girl.. "Look, take a moment to catch your breath." She turned to the other two adults. "You two, see if there's anything we can use in here."

Elva nodded and looked around, spotting a few blades and rolls of tape and bandage just laying on the ground. She carefully tied them together and made a makeshift shiv, handing Ellie back her tactical knife she took before.

Joel watched behind him as Elva continued making small shivs, they'd break easily, but it was better than nothing. She handed one to Tess and kept the other in her pocket, just in case they ran out of ammo.

He remembered that side of her. The side of Elva that would always split her ammo with him and Tommy whenever they needed any, the side of Elva that would never take no for an answer, and sometimes even give up something she needed for other survivors.

Joel wondered where that side of Elva went, did it get lost in those twenty years she was gone?

"Guys, up through here, through this pipe." Joel spoke, snapping himself out of his own thoughts. "I think we can make it through here."

The others stepped in the overgrown drainage pipe, trying to avoid the flowing water falling through the holes in the ceiling.

"Stay very close." Tess spoke to both Elva and Ellie. They nodded and made their way to follow Joel, the adults both held their pistols in-hand and Ellie held her tactical knife.

The water rose up to their knees again as they walked through the sunlit drainage room, crouching down enough so that the water came up to their waists.

The grate above their passage showed flashlights beaming through, stirring panic in the group. "Woah, woah, woah. Hang on. Hang on." Joel whispered trying to walk faster in the thick water. "Jesus."

"Gather up, they're calling us back." One of the soldiers above yelled. "We're returning to the wall!"

"You heard the man. Load them up, let's go! Let's go!" Another yelled.

"Come on." Joel whispered. He did a quick headcount with Elva trailing just behind him, Ellie behind her and Tess at the back of the group. They unlatched the end of the tunnel's grated door and stepped through, hair becoming soaked in rainwater again.

They approached one of the old highway bridges, now broken down and split in half with old cars strewn across it. Ellie sat down on a rock, head in her hands.

"Alright, they're gone." Joel stated affirmatively, double-checking that everyone in the group was there.

Elva stood next to Ellie as Tess walked up to the two. "Look- what was the plan? Let's say we manage to deliver her to the Fireflies, what then?"

"Marlene didn't tell me anything other than the fact that what she has could help them in their chances to find the cure." Elva replied, her hand against Ellie's back to try and comfort the teenager.

"Yeah, we've heard that before." Joel scoffed in disbelief. To be honest, he expected it from his old friend. He remembered that she would help anyone she could, no matter what it meant for her. She always said that it was why she became a doctor.

"She's not lying." Ellie confirmed. "Marlene said that 'whatever happened to me is the key to finding the vaccine'."

"Oh, Jesus." Joel exclaimed, fairly annoyed.

"It's what she said, Joel." Elva yelled, completely done with her old friend's attitude. She wanted to get Ellie to the Fireflies, and she sure as hell wouldn't be stopped by Joel Miller, of all people.

"Oh, I'm sure she did." He responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he walked towards Tess, Ellie standing up.

"Hey, fuck you man!" Ellie yelled.

"Don't. Getting in a fight with Joel won't get you anywhere." Elva spoke, holding Ellie off from beating the life out of the man.

"Oh yeah? Since when were we on a first name basis, anyway?" He spat, looking at his old friend in the eyes. "Last time I remember, your lifeless body was being dragged away by FEDRA, and now you just show up here twenty years later?!" He yelled.

"You think that I just _chose_ to be tortured for years and years on end? Do you think I _knew_ that you'd be here just so I could bring back that nightmare of a day to the front of your mind?" Elva yelled, brushing her hand through her now loose hair. "I know for a fuckin' fact that this girl isn't lying about a goddamn thing. So why don't you take her there? You have nothing to lose, I know it."

Joel stayed silent, breathing in and out angrily as he seethed. ' _You have nothing to lose, I know it._ ', those words replayed in his head. She wouldn't be talking about Sarah, she vowed to never bring her up, ever.

"What if they're not lying, Joel?" Tess asked, hands on hips as her hair flew in the wind and sagged back down to her shoulders in the rain.

"I can't believe..." The man backed up, turning around and scoffing in disbelief.

"What _if_ Joel? I mean we've come this far, they've come this far, let's just finish it." That caught Elva off guard. Since when did Tess care about how far Ellie and her had gone to get to that point?

"Do I need to remind you what is out there?" He spoke angrily, he didn't want to get himself in danger, he had learnt from his past mistakes.

Tess looked back at the girl and back at Joel, a glare in her eyes. "I get it." She said, walking away to catch some air.

Ellie glared at Joel as she walked to follow Tess, leaving just the other two old friends to their own devices.

Soon enough, Elva left to follow Tess as well, but was stopped by a firm hand on her forearm.

"What happened?" He asked.

"To who?" Elva inquired, turning towards him with an eye roll.

"You." Joel specified. "I know for a _fact_ that you and the kid didn't somehow meet while you were getting tortured. That's not how that works."

"Who are you to tell me what does and doesn't work?" She scoffed, taking Joel's hand off of her arm and taking a step back. "And what makes it your business?"

"I don't know, maybe the fact that we were so close, and maybe, for just one fucking second I thought we had something." Joel blurted out, immediately regretting the words he chose.

"You thought we had something?" Elva asked, smiling in disbelief. "Joel Miller, I was madly in love with you. But we were in the middle of a war, between us, FEDRA, and the outbreak. And we still are. We were on the run. We weren't safe." She put her fist against the top of her lip, trying not to tear up as she saw Joel's broken face. "The plan was to find somewhere safe. Somewhere the Fireflies could protect us. Then I was going to think about maybe even being happy with you for our lives. It's all I really wanted."

Joel took a shaky breath, certainly not expecting the words she said.

"I'll tell you everything that I can when this is over. Once we have Ellie to the Fireflies."


	7. ★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: YOU CAN'T DENY THAT VIEW  
** ★★★★★★★

They continued trekking down through the ankle-deep water, dodging flipped cars that were dented to hell. If you looked at what Pennsylvania used to look like before the outbreak, it would be barely recognizable.

"This way. If we cut through downtown, we can hit the capitol building by sunrise." Tess stated, walking alongside Ellie and Elva. Joel stayed a bit behind, still tense after what happened moments before.

"We hope." He spoke pessimistically.

They continued walking along, jumping over pieces of cracked concrete and metal containers, finally making it to one of the old main roads that would take you through what once was the city.

"Holy moly." Ellie exclaimed. Everyone looked up at the large skyscrapers, one was on a slant and pushing into the one across the road from it. "I guess this is what these buildings look like up close. They're so damn tall." She stated, completely in awe at the fact that she was even outside. "What happened here?"

More thunder boomed from the sky as Elva answered the young teenager. "They bombed a bunch of the surrounding areas."

"But why? Aren't they supposed to be protecting the non-infected?" Ellie inquired, walking along the middle of the road as it rained cats and dogs.

"Not necessarily. FEDRA could care less, but at least they didn't bomb the quarantine zones." Tess responded, watching as Ellie picked up a soaking wet leaflet from the ground, announcing that every place outside of the Boston quarantine zones would be bombed.

"That's a larger area than I expected, to be honest." Elva stated. Boston was almost an eight day walk, it wasn't a surprise that FEDRA even had access to that many bombs, though.

Joel was now walking behind Tess, Elva walking shortly beside him and Ellie trailing a bit behind the woman. They heard a strangled cry in the distance, nothing that sounded human, at least.

"Uh- what the hell was that?" Ellie exclaimed as the group walked up a concrete slope.

"Tess, you hear that?" Joel asked the woman who was a bit ahead of him, wanting to know if the noises were coming from ahead or behind.

"Yeah." She answered. "Sounded pretty far away though."

"Shit." Elva cursed, not really wanting to get into any battles with infected or any more FEDRA soldiers.

"Are we safe?" Ellie asked, her sneaker-cladded feet brushing up against the overgrowth of grass that had spurted through the cracked concrete.

Elva sighed. "For now."

"Come on." Tess spoke, motioning the others towards where she stood.

The road ended at a giant bomb crater, leaving the group stuck where they were until they found a way out.

"Damn. That's quite a drop." Ellie exclaimed, looking down into the hole and trying not to let her legs turn into jello as she watched the water flow in and out of the crater.

"Well, there's the Capitol Building." Elva pointed out, leading everyone to look behind all of the other broken buildings and skyscrapers to see the round-roofed place where all the Fireflies were supposedly camped out.

"Yeah, we need to get around this mess." Tess spoke, letting Joel take the lead and jump into another tunnel made of debris, crouching down and walking through the metal and concrete.

"This is the downtown area?" Ellie asked, staying behind Elva and Joel and walking in between Tess and the back of the group.

"It was." The woman answered mournfully. "Now it's a giant wasteland."

"FEDRA is so shit." Ellie spoke, standing up fully from crouch and walking through another side road.

"You got that right." Elva replied, ringing out her wet ponytail and tucking a few wisps of her blonde hair behind her ears.

Joel led the group to what looked like a rooftop of a smaller building, concrete paradise, if you will. There was a small garden harboring trees, some in concrete plant pots, some growing straight from the ground and puncturing through the flooring. "Over here."

The group of four continued to look for entrances in the building, or anything that could be of use. Ellie picked up a rock and knocked down one of the Firefly pendants hanging from the tree, examining it before putting it in her pocket.

"Find anything over there?" Joel asked Tess. He was on the side of the garden with Ellie, whilst Tess and Elva stayed on the other end, trying to look for any kind of doorway.

"No." Tess answered.

"Keep looking."

Ellie sighed, bored of not being able to do anything to help. "Should I do anything?"

"You just stay close to Elva for now." Joel replied, digging through the ivy that had grown over the walls. Nothing.

"Roger Dodger." Ellie stated.

A few minutes passed, Tess, Elva and Ellie had almost no luck finding any kind of pathway. Joel, on the other hand, struck gold.

"Hey!" He yelled to the group, letting them make their way through the ivy and walk over to where Joel was.

Two doors stood there, one open and revealing a dead man who was slumped to the ground, blood all over the walls. The other door was closed, revealing nothing as gruesome.

They quickly realized it was a FEDRA cop, so nobody could tell if it was because of some Firefly defense team or infected.

"He's been ripped apart." Tess stated.

"It's messy. It's more likely that the infected got to him."

"Yeah..." Joel spoke, his voice trailing off.

Tess looked closer at the blood. "Body's pretty fresh." She stated.

"Is that bad?" Ellie asked, wincing at the sight of the gruesome murder.

"Might be." Elva responded.

"Let's not stick around." Tess finished, letting Joel continue to lead the group through a different door, the closed one. It led to what looked like a completely ripped apart office, the flooring was on a slant, and everything was molding and was weak, so they had to be careful with where they stepped.

Nobody found anything in that room, so they left back out and went through the door with the mangled body. Elva could tell it was starting to rot because of the rancid smell, so they walked around the corner of the wall he was laying against as fast as they could.

They entered a stairwell, one half of the room completely demolished, dropping down back to the ground below. Walking up the stairs with effort due to the slanted flooring, Joel found another dead body at the break.

"Another one. Shit." Tess spoke.

Elva grabbed some of the leftover ammo the soldier had dropped on the ground and loaded it into her gun, handing the rest to Tess as Joel picked up a note that the dead body was laying next to.

"Looks like these guys died waiting for backup." He stated after reading it, placing it in his backpack in case they needed paper later.

The group continued walking up the stairs, Joel and Elva leading the others to make sure that nobody could hurt Ellie or Tess if they found people or infected.

Joel and Elva walked through another doorway, seeing a mutilated corpse attached to the door handle. "Goddamnit. Clicker."

"Fuck." Elva swore. Clickers were by far the worst besides Bloaters, which meant they had something ahead of them, that was for sure.

"Geez. What's wrong with its face?" Ellie asked as Joel pulled the dead Clicker off of the door handle so they could get through.

"That's what years of infection will do to you." Tess replied.

"So what, are they blind?"

"Sort of. They see using sound."

Elva stood with her gun out whilst Joel attempted to break down the door with his shoulder. She didn't want to take the chance to lose a member of the group, especially not Joel, not again.

The door finally gave way and they inspected the crooked room, filing cabinets fallen onto each other in the collapse.

"So, they're like bats?" Ellie asked, still discussing the topic of clickers with Tess.

"Like bats." She confirmed. "If you hear one clicking, you gotta hide. That's how they spot you."

Ellie nodded, the group standing in a comfortable silence.

The silence was soon broken by a wail coming from a higher floor, most likely a runner, clickers almost never made sound unless they were under attack.

"Shit." Ellie swore.

"Whole building feels like it's about to fall apart." Joel stated, grabbing some pain relief pills from one of the shelves before crouching down under a small filing cabinet, making his way to another door with the others shortly behind him. "Watch your head."

They jumped over another piece of wood, the building completely shaking and shifting the rolling chairs down to the side.

"Totally cool, everything is totally cool." Ellie recited, trying not to let the fear of the building totally collapsing underneath her get to her. Elva held her shoulder, trying to calm the teenager down.

Joel rattled one of the door handles, but it wouldn't budge. "Gimme a hand with this." He stated, waving his hand over. Elva helped him break down the door again.

Instead this time, her old friend was toppled over by a clicker.

"Joel!" Ellie yelled as Elva got out her gun, kicking the infected off of Joel and shooting it three times in the head.

"Thanks..." He nodded, still trying to catch his breath as he stood up.

"You alright?" Elva asked, looking up and down Joel's arms for any signs of a bite.

"It's nothin'."

The group walked back through another door into a kitchen-type room. "Let's search for supplies." Tess stated, looking in all the drawers in cabinets that weren't blown to pieces for anything they could use.

"Shit!" Ellie exclaimed. "Oh, that was so intense."

"You said it." Elva stated, still out of breath from the shock the clicker gave her.

"Here." Tess spoke, handing Joel a few bandages and a med kit. "Patch yourself up."

He passed one to Elva and she looked at him in confusion. He was the one who got attacked, he needed all the bandages he could get. Joel pointed to her arm, where a huge gash was dripping from her arm.

"Fuck, I didn't even notice that. I must've opened up a scar on a filing cabinet or something." She stated, opening the med kit that Joel placed on one of the counters and pouring the tiniest bit of disinfectant on her wound as she could, not wanting to waste any.

Joel sighed. "That ain't enough and you know it." He said, grabbing the disinfectant and Elva's arm, pouring a generous amount on the bleeding gash.

"Thanks." She smiled, mid-wince due to the pain of the alcohol. She grasped the bandage and cut it in half, wrapping it around her forearm.

Joel walked across the room, using one of the shivs that Elva had made to unlock one of the doors. The floor was moss-ridden, molded over time from the rain pouring through the broken windows.

He found nothing besides a few painkillers and a packet of tape, so he walked back to where the rest of his group was. They entered a room with water flowing into it, ivy spreading across one of the platforms.

"Up there, look." Tess pointed out. There was a way up, a dangling body hanging from their possible exit pathway.

"Yeesh." Ellie exclaimed.

Joel cupped his hands and leaned back against the wall in a sitting position. "Just see if there's a way through." He spoke.

Elva walked over to him and pushed her foot into his palms, reaching up and wrapping her arms and body around the flooring of the platform.

"It's clear." She spoke after looking around for a moment, leaning down and resting her hand down. "Ellie, Tess, then Joel."

"Alright kid, you're up." He stated, letting Ellie jump up and grasp onto Elva's hands, pulling herself up with some force.

"There ya go." Elva spoke, brushing her hands together as she leant back down for Tess. She jumped up, making it onto the platform with ease.

"C'mon big guy." Elva laughed, using all of her strength to pull Joel up. He finally got up and stood straight, cracking his neck as his old friend rubbed her arms in pain. Carrying a full grown man was not as easy as you'd think.

A noise came from one of the doors.

"Clickers?" Ellie asked in fear.

"Oh, shit." Tess exclaimed.

"Go, go, go!" Elva yelled, ushering Ellie to run as one of the clickers emerged from a doorway. They hid behind one of the tables in the cafeteria, leading the infected away from their noise _just_ enough so that Tess could throw a bottle to distract it.

"That's our way out, over the scaffolding." Elva whispered, letting Joel throw a brick in the opposite direction of the group. She quickly grasped her shiv in her hand and shoved it into the clicker's neck, not wanting to make any noise with the gun.

The infected dropped dead on the ground and they quickly ran up and jumped over the debris, their way out. "I think that's it." Tess spoke.

"Ellie, are you okay?" Elva asked, helping her jump over the large scaffolding.

"Other than shitting my pants, I'm fine." She stated. Joel picked up a stray med kit from one of the bodies laying against the wall. They must've gotten killed by the clicker.

He jumped down the railing, landing onto the stairwell and spotting a metal cabinet in the way. "Gimme a second." Joel pulled it back as he talked, the loud noises making everyone wince. "Here you go, ladies." He spoke sarcastically, letting Ellie, Elva and Tess jump down the railing.

"All right, come on." Tess spoke, hushing her voice down a bit in case of clickers.

"The stairwell's blocked." Ellie stated. "Should we go back up?"

Tess shook her head, climbing out one of the broken windows and onto an old window-washing platform. "Ah, this is crazy."

Ellie had a look of panic in her eyes. Elva knew she was slightly afraid of heights.

"Just don't look down." Tess stated.

"What? Are you serious?" Ellie asked, fear residing in the undertone of her voice.

"El'." Elva spoke, placing a hand on the teenager's shoulder. That small gesture was enough to give Ellie a bit of confidence, and she jumped onto the platform after Tess.

Joel and Elva followed after the others, trying to keep their balance whilst jumping over from platform to platform by spreading their hands out.

"C'mon, Ellie." Tess encouraged, holding out her hand for the girl to take.

"Yeah... Don't look down. Don't look down." Ellie repeated, pressing her back against the wall and making small, straight steps across the metal beam.

Elva stood between Ellie and Joel and tried not to hyperventilate. She _hated_ heights ever since she was a kid, but the outbreak had made her conquer it, but the fear still lingered just a bit, and besides, they were on a slanted skyscraper, you can't blame her.

"You're okay. We gotta way through." Tess spoke to Ellie, trying to calm her down. They made it into the stairwell through one of the broken windows, walking down one of the smaller flights.

As they entered one of the rooms, a dead body was resting against one of the covered tables, giving the group a warm welcome to the rest of the building. The dead cop had a gas mask on, which meant that there were most likely spores where they were headed.

A wailing sound came from outside the windows.

"Runners." Tess stated.

"We'll go check it out. Stay with the girl." Joel spoke, gesturing to him and Elva. She nodded as they jumped down into a hole in the flooring, crouching down as they landed.

It was almost as if they had rewound twenty years. Except, Tommy wasn't with them now. She wondered if he ever got to Jackson and lived the life he deserved in a quiet town, with a nice partner he could settle down with.

It wasn't the time to be stuck in the past, though. One of the runners was straggling dangerously close to where Joel and Elva were hiding, behind one of the desk tables. Joel threw a bottle which was on the floor back out to the main area to distract the others whilst Elva pinned the runner down, shoving her pistol in his mouth and pulling the trigger.

"You're a bit more merciless than I remember." Joel whispered, handing his friend a bit of extra ammo.

She loaded it in her gun as they talked. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment."

They continued sneaking down the hallway, meeting a wall with a clicker on one side and a runner on the other. They hid behind one of the dressers and waited. The runner soon made its way to the clicker's side, so they walked over to one of the mangled dead bodies on the floor.

Joel nodded to Elva and they both went their separate ways, Joel took out the runner by snapping its neck slowly as he brought it to the ground, and Elva snuck up behind the clicker and shot it twice in the head.

They quickly snuck past where the now dead clicker lay. Joel quickly snapped another neck off of one of the runners whilst Elva scoured the room for supplies, grabbing a few blades and some tape to make into shivs.

She found another runner on her way, knocking it out with a brick that was on the ground and shooting it directly in the chest.

"Is that it?" Elva whispered to Joel, earning a nod from the man.

"Come on back down!" He yelled up to the group upstairs, standing up straight once again. "Are you out of ammo?" He asked Elva, standing next to her.

"Nope, I've got nine bullets left, it should be fine." He nodded as Ellie and Tess jumped down from the platform upstairs, meeting the other two on the overgrown concrete floor.

Tess whistled from up top, jumping down onto Elva and Joel's level. "Wow. I'm impressed." She exclaimed, smirking a bit.

"Let's just get outta here." Joel spoke, rolling his eyes at his friend's antics.

Elva placed a bunch of materials she had gathered on the desk, making more shivs and passing one to Ellie, Joel and one to Tess, as well. Although Ellie had her tactical knife, she didn't want to break it on something that didn't matter.

Joel pulled one of the cabinets out from blocking the door whilst everyone else walked to the door. "Alright, go."

Tess walked up first, attempting to hold the door open as Joel waited patiently, still gripping tightly onto the cabinet.

"Alright, hold on." Tess yelled. "Here- this'll work." She spoke as the door shut behind her. Joel watched from the window to the room as she grabbed another metal box. "Gimme a hand, Elva."

"On it." She responded, helping her push the metal box to hold the door open for Joel. It was a bigger box, so he had to leap over it and lean down to get into the room that the others were in.

"There, see? We're doin' alright." Tess smiled as they continued walking down and through the skyscraper. They stopped at another hole, the flooring caved in and overgrown completely.

"Woah." Ellie exclaimed.

"Down we go." Tess stated, cracking her knuckles and rotating her neck.

Joel led the group down the stairs and into a small opening. "Let's get to it, we can get through here, just make sure to watch your back." He said as they jumped down onto another platform.

They continued that routine until they had to start crawling under some debris, Joel's flashlight began to flicker out so he shook it a few times, not wanting to replace the battery just yet. He had a limited amount.

Another mutilated corpse laid in their path, making Ellie pin her nose shut to avoid the horrid smell radiating from it. "Ugh, those guys stink. Not even like dead bodies either, like- like if you mixed a pig with a cow and then killed it."

"It's 'cause they never finish the decomposition stage, if they did, their bodies would be gone. But the infected's bodies never fully decay." Elva explained.

"Ew." Ellie stated, shaking her head in disgust as she continued following shortly behind Tess through the small tunnel.

After a few more moments of walking, Joel jumped down into a smaller subsection, wedged between the building and the rubble. "Through here."

Elva and Joel were constantly searching for any supplies, alcohol, blades, tape, weapon parts, anything that would be useful. For the first time in a long time, Joel Miller was on the run, and he was _not_ used to it.

"You've gotten rusty, old man." Elva stated, remembering the days that they would run miles and miles just to get FEDRA off of their tails.

"We're the same age, El'."

 _El._ She hadn't heard that nickname in a long time. Not since-

"Over here." Tess' voice snapped Elva out of her thoughts and she walked over to where Joel's friend was standing.

A dead body. Ripped apart, blood pouring from his wounds and onto the floor. "Look at his sleeve." Tess stated.

"Firefly." Elva spoke softly. She would recognize that sleeve band anywhere, Tommy had it for most of the time they were friends. She had it memorized in her brain.

"These guys aren't doin' too well in or out of the city." Joel huffed. "Let's hope there's someone alive to meet us at the drop-off." He leant down, grabbing a useless molotov off of the ground.

Elva did the same, but she grabbed the map that was laying down next to another body on the stairwell ahead. "Oh god, they're from the quarantine zone."

"See... they're not our guys." Tess stated.

"Not necessarily a good thing." Elva replied, placing the ruined map in her pocket in case they needed it on their journey to the Capitol Building.

They snuck underneath another piece of rubble, immediately being met with a clicker on the other end of the room. "Over there, see 'em?"

"Shit." Elva swore.

"God, we're almost out." Tess spoke as they ran to one of the pieces of debris, hiding against it and looking up every few moments. "Okay, Joel and Elva, you take point. I'll watch the rear. No matter _what,_ Ellie, you stay right on their heels."

"Sure." Ellie spoke in a whisper, her hands shaking a bit.

"On it." Elva nodded.

"I got it." Joel replied, walking up alongside the other two. They could hear more and more clickers through the walls, but shooting them was too risky.

They crouched through the hallways, walking slowly with their shivs and knives in-hand, just in case anything went wrong. Joel jumped through one of the shattered windows, both of the others following in suit.

A clicker was just ahead of them, so Elva quickly stepped ahead and shivved it in the throat quietly, carefully placing it on the ground and sneaking back over to Joel and Ellie, blood now stained across her hands and shirt.

They leaped into another room, this time, with a safe in it. There was a runner just ahead, Joel took it down with the shiv from Elva, since she didn't have any left.

Ellie cracked the safe open, luckily, it wasn't empty. She handed the weapon parts to Joel and he gave some to Elva.

Another clicker passed the windows, and Joel grabbed out his molotov.

"Be careful with that, if you use it." Elva spoke, fear in her eyes. Ellie had already been bitten, she didn't want to get anyone else in danger.

"I will." Joel replied. "We're almost out, c'mon."

Tess joined them, locking eyes with the subway door and hiding behind a half-wall in the middle of the room. The clicker was right there, and it was _just_ blocking the doorway.

Elva quickly wrapped more tape around a blade and tossed it to Joel just as he approached the back of the clicker. He stabbed it right in the head, pushing it deep into the skull and letting the body fall to the ground slowly to prevent noise.

"Alright, c'mon." Joel spoke, cupping his hands at a small platform with a ladder hanging just over the edge. Elva took the chance as Tess made sure Ellie was okay. The ex-nurse jumped onto Joel's hands and pulled down the ladder, dropping it down in place for everyone.

They heard more and more infected noises as they rushed up the metal ladder, and they jumped down onto a watery subway road.

"Holy shit. We actually made it." Ellie smiled, catching her breath a bit.

"Everyone okay?" Joel asked, looking from Ellie to Elva to Tess.

"Yes, let's move." Tess spoke, walking up onto another piece of broken concrete.

"You guys are pretty good at this stuff." Ellie exclaimed, pulling herself up onto another slab of road.

"It's called luck, and it's gotta run out sooner or later." Elva replied, walking out into the almost-morning moon and sun.

"Which way we goin' here?" Joel asked Tess, she was leading the group through what seemed like circles, each decimated building looked the exact same.

"Uh, Capitol Building's in this direction." She answered, facing a big block in their pathway. "How do we get up over this truck?"

Joel was quick to grab one of the dumpsters nearby, pushing it up against the truck and making an easy road for the group. "Climb on up, maybe we can cut through here." He spoke, pulling the chain of a garage door he found.

"Yeah, 'cause that worked out great last time."

"Ellie." Elva scolded, holding onto the bottom of the garage door and pushing it up as Joel did the same with the chain.

"Sorry, I'm just sayin'."

A strange wailing noise came from the distance, ringing in Tess and Ellie's ears. "Shh, shh." She shushed, getting Elva and Joel to stop pulling the garage door up.

"What? I don't hear anything." Joel stated.

"Okay, double-time." Tess spoke, causing Joel to pull down the chain faster and Elva to push the garage door up with as much strength as she could.

"Fuck!" Elva groaned, her arm still searing with pain from the gash she had gotten.

"They're coming!" Ellie yelled.

"I know." Joel exclaimed, watching as a bunch of runners came jumping down the truck they just came from.

"Okay, that's good, that's good! Go!" Tess yelled, pushing Ellie underneath the garage door and helping her through to the other side.

Joel and Elva _just_ managed to make it through after them, the infected's hands touching their backs menacingly until they got cut right off by the garage door slamming down.

"Oh... You got something on your shoe." Ellie pointed out, letting Joel kick the infected's arm off of his shoe. "Gross." She stated.

They stepped further and further away from the garage door as more and more pounding and wailing sounds came from the other end. It was mostly runners, no clicker could make it that far out without a room to be in.

"Okay, how do we get out of this place?" Joel asked.

"Let's find out." Tess spoke.

Joel walked over to what looked like an equipment station, he placed his gun down and started using some parts he had picked up to make his guns more effective.

"So Marlene thinks you're immune?" Tess asked Ellie, looking around with her flashlight to try and find a way out.

"Well, that's what she believes."

"Elva." Joel spoke, holding out his hand. "Pass me your gun." She nodded and threw it in his hands, letting him put a few stabilizers and extra ammo holders in it.

"How were you bitten? I mean- you must've gone _somewhere_ you shouldn't have to find an infected in the zone." Tess stated, still talking to Ellie.

"Yeah, I'd sneak out. I was in this military boarding school."

"You'd sneak out?"

"Here." Joel spoke, passing Elva back her gun.

"Thanks." She smiled, placing it in her back pocket. The two continued to look around for an exit of some kind, drawing out the other's conversation.

"How's your arm?" Joel asked, a sincere look in his eyes.

Elva shrugged. "Not too bad. Hurts like hell, but I'll get over it."

"I picked up some painkillers." He said, grabbing some out of his pocket and placing them in her palm. "Take 'em. It's not much but it'll work like a charm."

She nodded, taking two out of the capsule and gulping it down dry. She handed the packet back to Joel and kept looking around for an exit. They came across a few places where water was still leaking from the ceiling, soaking their hair.

"Ow, shit!" Ellie yelled, a loud noise joining her curses. "Sorry, sorry, that was me."

"Tess." Joel rolled his eyes.

"Sorry!" Ellie apologized again.

"C'mon, stay close to me." Tess spoke, not wanting Ellie to trail off without them and get lost, or attacked.

The group jumped up onto a higher level through one of the holes in the caved in flooring, inspecting the area. "What is this place?" Ellie asked.

"It's an old museum." Tess answered. "Some of these things are hundreds of years old."

"Really? Wow."

"This is the Andy Warhol Museum, right?" Elva asked, astonished at all of the art laying on each of the pedestals.

"Yeah, you been here or something?" Tess responded, trying to look for some kind of break in the wall by running her fingers up and down the creme floral wallpaper.

"My dad took me as a kid. _Way_ before outbreak day. It was a long drive so we came here once a year. If I was lucky, twice."

"Huh. You know the layout of this place then, right?"

"Barely." Elva replied. "It was a long time ago, and it's changed a lot."

"Well, if you see anything recognizable that could lead to an exit, feel free to let me know." Tess offered. Elva nodded and they went their separate ways. Everything that looked like a door was either blocked up by rubble or led to an empty room.

Joel led the others into a room that looked promising, but there was so much wooden debris in the way. He attempted to lift it up, grunting as Ellie, Tess, and Elv-

The wood flipped down just as Elva began walking down, trapping half of her body on the side with Joel, and her leg down under the debris.

"Fucking shit!" She yelled, pushing the wooden debris up with Joel and unlodging little bits of her foot at a time.

"Elva! Joel!" Ellie yelled.

"We're alive- Look; we'll make our way around to you." He yelled in between grunts, he got Elva's foot out after a while and she scurried out from the debris, breathing in and out deeply as she held her leg.

The sounds of clickers and runners carried from the other side. "Look- they're here!" Ellie yelled.

"Tess? Ellie?" Joel asked, still in a crouch.

"Run! Run!" Tess yelled.

Joel held onto Elva's leg, grabbing out a med kit and trying to find something that would stop the swelling. He was never good at medical things, so he always usually relied on someone else to help him out.

"Fuck- just- grab the bandage and some of the towel." She said in between deep breaths, instructing him on how to stop the swelling. He did as Elva told him to, rolling up her pant leg. "Put the- put the towel around the bruise, wrap- wrap it tightly."

Joel nodded and did so, lifting up her leg with a wince as she breathed even deeper, trying to circulate blood flow and stop the pain.

"Now what?" He asked, desperation in his eyes.

"Take the bandage and- and wrap it _really_ tightly around the tow- towel." She instructed, trying to relieve the pressure she was putting her hurt arm through, but it was no use.

Joel did it and rolled the pant leg back over the wound, helping Elva stand up shakily as they walked back through the doorway.

The two managed to walk by a clicker, remaining unseen as they continued to scour the place for any way to get to Tess and Ellie. Elva ignored the horrifying pain excruciating from her leg, but it was _very_ hard to.

Another clicker walked past them, leaving Joel to throw a bottle at its head and stab one of his handmade shivs into its neck. He helped Elva get up a small staircase, where noises of clickers and runners wailing came crashing through the walls.

One of the runners had been pounding against one of the doors, so Joel left Elva leaning against one of the walls silently, taking his last shiv and slitting the infected's throat.

"I think I can walk from here." Elva stated, gripping at her leg as she lifted the pressure off of the wall and onto the ground again.

"Ellie, stay back!" They heard from inside the door. The two busted in, Elva grabbing out her gun as Tess used a plank of wood to completely decapitate one of the runners that had cornered her.

"Tess!" Joel exclaimed.

"I'm fine." She spoke. "Is your leg okay?" She asked Elva.

"It'll be fine. Where's-"

"Guys, get in here!" Ellie yelled. Everyone immediately ran in, Joel punching the life out of the runner attacking the young girl. Elva limped towards them and took out her gun, trying to ignore the pain she got from every recoil.

"Shit, I'm out of bullets!" She yelled. Tess grabbed a packet from her pocket and chucked some to Elva. She gratefully winced, attempting a smile as she reloaded her gun and cocked it.

Joel threw a molotov at one of the runners, letting Ellie stay back with Tess. Two more runners came bursting through the historic room, Elva shot both of them point-blank in the head, sending them to topple over onto the ground.

"That was too damn close." Joel exclaimed, helping Elva towards where the others were headed. She could walk now, but her movements were staggered, and Joel didn't want to take any chances and let her fall into the broken glass.

"Oh, shit." Tess breathed, placing her hands on her knees as she looked out one of the windows of the building.

"How're you holdin' up?" Joel asked, still staying near Elva in case she fell.

"Just a bit winded." She lied. "This way, it'll get us to the roof."

Joel turned to Ellie, watching as Elva carefully placed one leg over the broken window opening and got to the other side. "How 'bout you, kid? You okay?" He asked.

"Define okay." She retorted.

"Are you still breathing?"

"Do small, panicked breaths count?"

"Yeah, they count."

"Alright. Then I'm okay."

Joel and Ellie made their way up the metal fire escape staircase, following after Elva and Tess to the roof.

"We gotta find a way across." Tess spoke, looking around the rooftop.

"There she is, that's our building." Elva stated, looking over to the Capitol building in the distance. The sunrise gorgeously turned the sky pink and orange, making Elva long to be in a normal world again.

Joel found a stray plank on the rooftop, grabbing it and placing it over the fence and making a pathway to the other building.

"Alright." He spoke, facing Ellie. "Now watch your step as you're going up 'cause it's going to be a little-"

Ellie scoffed, interrupting him as she walked across the plank with ease, holding out her arms for extra balance, but she really didn't need it.

Joel helped Elva across next, making sure she was fine walking on with her leg on her own, especially over a singular thin plank.

Tess stepped across last, meeting the others on the other side. Ellie looked in astonishment, and Elva simply smiled, knowing it was the girl's dream to truly see the outside world.

"Well, is that everything you hoped for?" Joel asked her as Elva stood behind the teenager, holding onto the girl's shoulders in comfort.

Ellie shrugged. "Jury's still out. But, man... you can't deny that view."

"No you cannot." Elva smirked.

"C'mon." Tess waved. "This way." Ellie followed shortly after her, and Elva watched as Joel looked at his old broken wristwatch in silence.

"She's watching, you know. She'd be proud." Elva stated, rubbing Joel's shoulder before walking off, wincing in pain every now and again.

"Hey!" Tess yelled. "Pick it up. We're almost done. Stay focused." She said as Ellie and Elva climbed down the ladder.

Joel scoffed sarcastically. "Yes, ma'am."


	8. ★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: JUST GO  
** ★★★★★★★★

The four jumped down the ladder, Elva wincing in pain a bit, but she had to say, Joel did a pretty good job with the compression, and her leg was feeling a bit better.

"It's right around this corner. C'mon." Tess spoke, walking down another set of stairs into an alleyway.

"Let's keep moving, kid." Joel stated, trailing in the back of the group with Elva, making sure she was okay to walk on her injured leg.

They looked for a way out of the small alley, coming across a dead body, blood dripping from its chest and pooling all the way on the overgrown concrete floor.

"Look at this." Elva exclaimed. "There's a Firefly logo on his arm."

"What if we get there and they're all dead?" Ellie asked, her voice panicked.

"They won't." Tess answered confidently.

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Tess sighed. "Look, it's gonna be fine, it has to be."

Joel drowned out the girl's conversations and pushed a dumpster up against the alleyway wall, creating an exit towards the Capitol Building.

"Up and over." He jumped up, helping Elva up before Tess and Ellie leaped onto the wooden walkway as well.

They made it to the swampy street, overgrown with grass. Even though the town and city was completely decimated, the sun pouring over the landscape was absolutely gorgeous. It made quite the silver lining.

"There we go." Joel spoke. "Home stretch."

A pit formed in Elva's stomach for reasons she couldn't explain. The brick building was right there, why was she feeling so horrible in the last few moments? Ellie would be safe, that was all that mattered.

They approached a lake-like overgrowth, the water rising up to the height of the abandoned cars. "Um- just so it's out there, I can't swim." Ellie revealed.

"It looks like it's shallow on the right side, follow me." Tess stated.

Elva tried to make sure nothing was trapped under the water that she couldn't see, like a piece of debris. She didn't want to risk hitting her foot and having to leave the city on foot with a hurt leg.

"I'm glad Marlene hired you guys." Ellie blurted out.

"What do you mean?" Tess asked.

"I know you guys are getting paid for this, and Elva isn't technically part of this job, but I'm trying to say thanks." Ellie smiled, holding her hands up above the waist-length water.

"Yeah... Sure thing." Tess spoke, not really knowing how to respond to it. It was a one way mission for them, it didn't mean anything. It couldn't.

The pit in Elva's stomach grew more and more terrifying as they approached the steps to the Capitol Building. Something _bad_ was going to happen, something really, really bad.

Joel opened the double doors, revealing tens of hundreds of dead and bloody Fireflies laying on the concrete flooring. Everyone's faces dropped. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"No." Tess exclaimed, running to one of the corpses. "No, no, no."

"What happens now?" Ellie asked.

"Stay close, okay?" Elva stated, trying to block out the question Ellie had asked. She didn't want to know what happened, it was pretty obvious.

"What are you doing, Tess?" Joel asked, approaching the woman who was frantically searching one of the bloody corpses.

"Oh god." She whispered anxiously. "Maybe they- ah- maybe they had a map or something to tell us where they were going."

"How far are we going to take this?" Joel stated, annoyed. Their job was to take Ellie to the Capitol Building, not to wherever the Fireflies lived.

"As far as it needs to go!" She yelled, exasperated. What had gotten into her?" "Where was this lab of theirs?" Tess asked, looking back and forth from Ellie to Elva.

"Marlene never mentioned it to me." Ellie stated.

Elva sighed. "Salt Lake City, Utah. Used to be Saint Mary's Hospital out West."

"What are we doing here?" Joel yelled. "This is _not_ us."

Tess stood up, facing Joel. "What do you know about us? About me? I know for a fact I don't know a goddamn thing about you. Do you expect me to just trade off my info for nothing in return?"

"I know that you are smarter than this." He responded, trying to stay calm.

Ellie stood slightly behind Elva, not wanting to be involved in their argument. "It's my fault, isn't it?" She asked.

"No. God no, none of this is anyone's fault." The woman reassured, trying to block out the yelling. It was hard enough to deal with a kid who just wanted to change the world. Every single thing in between just made it worse.

"It is over, Tess!" Joel snapped. "Now we tried. Let's just go home."

"I'm not- I'm not going anywhere." She paused, voice cracking. "This is my last stop."

"What?"

"Our luck had to run out sooner or later." Tess glanced at Elva. "She said it herself." Joel tried to grab her arm, only for her to pull back. "Don't touch me." She spoke, a hint of guilt in her voice.

"Holy shit." Ellie swore. "She's infected."

Joel stayed silent, only breaking it as his voice became cold. "Let me see it."

"I didn't mean for this-"

"Show it to me." He demanded.

Tess sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere. She tugged on her shirt collar, pulling it back just enough to see a bloody bite right on the center of her shoulder.

"Oh, Christ." He breathed in disbelief.

"Oops, right?" She scoffed, walking over to Ellie and Elva. "Gimme your arm." She spoke, holding it and pushing the sleeve up. "This was three weeks!" Tess yelled, stepping a bit closer to Joel. "I was bitten an hour ago and it's already worse. This is fucking real, Joel! You've got to get them to Tommy's. She used to know him for fuck's sake!" She pointed to Elva. "He'll know where to go."

"No, no, no. That was your crusade." He shouted, pointing to Elva and Ellie. "She can go on her own with Elva, I am not doing that?"

"Her leg is almost broken, Joel. What happens if she trips and falls? This fucking kid can't make it on her own. She's fourteen, Joel. _Fourteen._ " Tess stated. "You two used to be close, right? There's gotta be enough there to make you want to help them." She breathed. "So you get them to Tommy's."

A distance of vehicle noises came from out the window, groups and groups of FEDRA soldiers lining up against the building.

"Shit, Ellie, we need to get out of here." Elva stated, gripping onto the girl's shoulders.

"Watch the exit!" One of the officers yelled.

"They're here." Tess spoke, gun in hand. Her arm began to drip with the thick blood from her bite. "I can buy you some time, but you have to run." She offered generously.

"What? You want us to just leave you here?" Ellie asked, disbelief in her eyes.

"Yes." Tess spoke confidently, tears threatening to fall from her irises.

Elva stepped forward, grasping her gun firmly. "Look, we're not leaving you here-"

"I will not turn into one of those things!" Tess interrupted, pausing to breathe slowly. She didn't want to stay there, but she didn't want to stay as an infected, either. She shed a tear, letting it roll down her cheek. "Come on, make this easy for me."

"I can fight-" Joel protested.

"No! Just go!" Tess pushed, shoving Joel's shoulder a bit. "Just fucking go."

Elva spoke after the moment of silence. "Tess-"

"Oh, now you remember my name?" She asked sarcastically.

"Thank you."

"Don't sweat it." Tess smiled, almost genuinely. "Take care of Joel, okay? He really fucking cares for you."

Elva nodded, putting her gun back in her gun holster.

"Ellie-" Joel waved, beginning to walk backwards.

"I'm sorry. I didn't- I didn't mean for this!" She replied.

"Get a move on." The other two did just that, and what was left of the group made their way to find the back exit. Elva ran next to Ellie as they waited for Joel to start moving.

"We know you're in there!" The soldiers yelled. Tess sighed, turning to the doorway and holding her gun up. "Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!"

The group of four had become three.


	9. ★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: WHAT YOU SAY GOES  
** ★★★★★★★★★

Elva locked the door from the main room, breathing heavily out of shock. What had just happened? It was hard to comprehend, that was for sure.

“What the fuck?!” Ellie yelled. “I can’t believe we did that.”

“El…” Elva spoke, watching as Joel’s face turned into one of grim sadness, painting his eyes an angry hue. He was devastated.

“We just left her to die!” Ellie exclaimed.

“Stop.” Joel snapped, surprising Ellie. “You stay close to Elva. We have to move.” He spoke, shutting the teenager up. It was hard enough to have lost his friend, he didn’t need someone yapping in his ear about how he had made the wrong choice.

They could hear Tess fighting from the other room, mass gunshots erupting and carrying through the walls. Elva tried to drown the noise out with her own thoughts.

“We’ll go upstairs. We can probably get out from there.” Joel stated, running up the stairs alongside Elva and Ellie. The young girl trailed just a bit behind them, still feeling immense guilt for Tess. “Just keep pushing forward.” He spoke.

They made their way onto a balcony that looked out into the room where the FEDRA officers stood, crouching down and making sure they weren’t seen through the broken fence line in front of them.

“Target neutralized. She took out two of my men.” One of the soldiers spoke, the group watching as blood pooled underneath Tess’ lifeless body. “Copy that. You, take out the door, you, with me.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh my god…” Ellie exclaimed in a whisper. Elva made a quick hush sound, they were too close to the officers to be able to make noise and get away with it. 

“They’re gonna be here soon, Joel. We have to go.” Elva stated, peeling her friend’s gaze away from Tess’ body.

He nodded, running along the rest of the balcony, making sure that his body was angled low enough so that nobody could see him, but high enough so that he could still run swiftly.

They entered another office room, jumping through one of the openings in the wall and into another part of the Capitol Building. Another dead body was on the pillar, and as Ellie and Elva inspected around the room for supplies, Joel looted it.

He grabbed the rifle placed up against the wall, looking at it quickly before turning to Elva. “Here.” He stated, passing it to her. “You were always better with the rifles than I was.”

She snorted. “Wow, you’re just full of the good and nice juice today, aren’t ya’?” Elva laughed, loading the gun and hooking the rifle into a slot in her backpack, letting it rest against her back.

“They’re escaping into the hall!” Voices through the walls yelled. “Go around!”

“What do we do?” Ellie whisper-yelled as officers began to file into the room, guns and weapons at the ready. Elva grimaced at the sight of all the dead Fireflies on the ground, their lives finished so young.

“You are going to stay here.” Joel pointed at Ellie, directing her to stay behind a small clothed dining table. “We are going to take what’s left of the officers in here down and give you a signal.”

Elva quickly walked over into another room, snapping the neck of one of the soldiers and retreating back to where Joel was. He did the same with another one of the officers, but instead of snapping his neck, he just simply wrapped his arm around their neck until they fell unconscious.

Joel gave Ellie the signal to follow them as the three walked into the room Elva was just in minutes before. They walked around the lifeless body of the soldier she had taken out and hid behind another table.

Quickly, they dodged one of the officers and made it into another room, Ellie passing Elva her tactical knife and letting the older woman slice the soldier’s neck. She threw Ellie back her knife and let the body down slowly, trying not to make a noise.

They hid behind another desk as yet  _ another  _ officer approached the dead body, only to be knocked out by the butt of Joel’s gun as he slammed it into the man’s head over and over again. The man took his last breath as blood gushed out of his head, his limp body falling lifelessly to the floor.

Joel led the group down a flight of stairs, feet brushing against the overgrowth in every corner. They jumped down one by one into one of the main rooms, everyone breathing heavily.

“What’re we doing?” Ellie asked, looking to Elva.

The woman looked to Joel. “How’re we gonna get out of here?”

“Trust me here, okay?” He asked. “Just follow me down that hall. We’re gonna have to go through it.” Elva nodded, looking to Ellie and trying to ignore the heavy bags under the young girl’s eyes.

“Ellie, stay down.” She stated, crawling behind one of the dining tables in the hallway and reloading her pistol. The officers talked loudly through the halls, they weren’t very inconspicuous.

“They had to come through here.” One spoke. “Comb the area.”

One of the soldiers approached the room that Ellie, Elva and Joel were in, gun in hand as he walked slowly along the linoleum floors. Joel quickly lashed out and held the man quiet as Elva opened her backpack and made more shivs, swiftly throwing one to her friend as he stabbed the officer’s neck.

They left back out to the room they were in before, Elva quickly tossing a shiv into one of the soldier’s chests and running out, twisting his head until she heard a snapping noise. The man fell dead to the floor, blood dripping down his neck and chest onto the floor.

“Shit!” Joel yelled, one of the officers running towards them and alerting the rest of the team that the group was there. He immediately grabbed a stray pipe that had fallen from the roofing, slamming it into the man’s head and letting him fall to a heap on the ground.

A gunshot came from the hallway, Elva immediately grabbing Ellie and pressing their backs against the walls. The woman grasped her pistol and fired twice, wiping the officer’s face clean off.

Joel grabbed another one of the soldiers, crushing his skull with the pipe. “Who knew I could’ve fuckin’ decimated some infected with my leaky plumbing.”

Elva snickered. “You mean you’ve never killed a man with a pipe? And I thought you were a veteran killer.”

Joel rolled his eyes and continued searching through the Capitol Building, making sure he checked every single room for-

“They’re here!” An officer yelled, pulling out his gun and aiming it through the doorway at the group. Elva quickly took him down, shoving her knee into his lower abdomen and slamming his skull into one of the columns.

They made it to what looked like their escape room, hushing down their footsteps to a slow pace as they found two living officers talking.

“They still haven’t found the last three.” One stated.

“I heard one of ‘em was a kid.” The other spoke, reloading his gun.

“Jesus.” The soldier exclaimed. “Well hey, after today, this whole Firefly bullshit will be behind us.”

“Amen to that, brother.”

Elva nodded to Joel and ran up to the farther officer, dodging a few bullets as he turned around and noticed her. She quickly grabbed the back of his neck and shot him twice in the chest. While she was doing that, Joel took the other soldier, kicking the man’s feet from underneath him and slamming his foot into the FEDRA officer’s skull.

“There’s the exit.” Ellie pointed at the large doorway leading out to the sunny daylight they wished to bask in for the rest of their lives.

“Quickly, stay low.” Elva spoke, the group exiting the Capitol Building and trudging through the waist-deep murky water. 

“There’s stairs over there!” Ellie exclaimed, running through the cars and cement blocks towards the small building.

“They’re going into the subway!” A far away voice cried as they ran down the stairs as fast as they could. “Stop ‘em!”

“Shit!” Elva yelled, running down the station alongside Joel and Ellie as gunfire began, everyone narrowly avoiding the shots until they came around a corner. But they weren’t out of the dark yet.

“They’re following us!” Ellie stated, running into a large wall covered with infection. Joel pulled out the gas mask from his backpack, Elva doing the same. They both clipped them on around the back of their heads and crouched behind a large object, spores clouding their vision.

“Get down.” Ellie spoke, immune to the infection lingering in the air. “There’s a soldier over there.” She pointed out, the other two watching as two soldiers emerged from one of the old, broken down trains.

“How the hell are you breathin’ in this stuff?” Joel asked in disbelief, his voice slightly muffled due to the gas mask.

“We weren’t lying to you.” Ellie stated, eavesdropping into the officer’s conversation.

“Did you spot ‘em?” One asked.

“No, place is empty.”

“Let’s find them and get the hell out of here before clickers show up.”

One of the officers began walking dangerously close to the group, Joel quickly snapped his neck whilst Elva ran over to the train tracks, strangling the other soldier until he slammed his helmet-clad head onto the pavement ground.

They walked through the train, stepping out into the part of the subway station that was submerged in murky brown water.

“Hey, uh, I can’t swim.” Ellie stated, her voice carrying through echoes all the way through the hallways.

“El’, stay there, we’ll figure something out.” Elva stated, walking into the water and sumberging herself under it alongside Joel. They swam through abandoned trains and small openings that they could get under.

Elva held her breath and dunked down, pushing herself into a small crevice. She lifted back up out of the water, taking large and steady breaths as she spotted something handing  _ just  _ over the edge of the concrete sidewalk. “There’s a ladder over here!” She yelled, swimming back under the water.

She spotted Joel a few meters away, looking at a dead body that had sunk to the bottom. Elva dove down and searched the body for any supplies that could be useful, but she only found a few pairs of scissors.

“Elva, come help me get this.” She looked over and saw Joel with a floating crate palette in his hands. She swam over and grabbed the other end, pushing it towards where Ellie stood.

“Get on.” Joel spoke.

Ellie looked at it with a concerned look in her eyes. “Really?” She asked.

“El’.” Elva stated with a firm tone, coaxing her to jump onto the slab of wood.

“Okay, okay.” She rolled her eyes and crouched down on the platform, trying not to lose too much balance. “Ah- be careful.”

“Don’t worry, Ellie, we gotcha.” Elva spoke, helping Joel push the wood against the place where the ladder sat, dangling  _ just  _ out of reach from their hands. Ellie pushed the ladder down, letting it splash and hit the ground.

“Ladies first.” Joel smiled tightly.

“Oh, yeah, as if chivalry was ever your thing.” Elva scoffed, climbing up the ladder. She let her hair down from the high ponytail it was once in, ringing it out onto the concrete and trying to get all the water out.

Joel climbed up the ladder as well and they continued making their way through the subway station, trying to find an exit that hopefully wouldn’t lead to FEDRA officers.

Bingo.

They jumped out into the fresh air, both Joel and Elva clipping off their gas masks and relieving their faces, letting the sun kiss their cheeks again.

Joel coughed a bit, sitting down on an old pile of tires. Elva did the same, but instead sat on the dirty stairs that led up to what once was the subway station.

“Hey, look, um- about Tess…” Ellie spoke quietly. “I don’t even know what to-”

“Here's how this thing's gonna play out. You don't bring up Tess- ever.” Joel stated, a serious glare in his eyes. “Matter of fact, you and I can just keep our histories to ourselves.” He spoke. “Secondly, don’t tell anyone about your… condition. They’ll either think you’re crazy or they’ll try to kill you.” He paused. “And lastly, you do what we say, when we say it.” Joel pointed to Elva. “We clear?”

“Sure.” Ellie nodded, finding more and more interest in her shoes.

“Repeat it.” Joel demanded.

Ellie paused, sighing a bit. “What the adults say, goes.”

“Good.” Joel breathed, standing up and facing towards the broken road in front of the group. “Now, there's a town a few miles north of here. There's a fella that owes me some favors…” He spoke, turning back around to see Elva standing up next to Ellie. “Good chance he could get us a car.”

“You really think that taking Ellie to Bill’s is gonna get us anywhere good?” Elva asked, crossing her arms.

Joel remembered when he and Elva had first run into Bill. It was an absolute shitshow, and Bill only had one motive. To survive. The chances of him helping the group were slim, but he did owe Joel a few favours from their smuggling job in Boston.

“Honestly, I don’t think we got a choice, here.” Joel stated, knowing that it really wasn’t the best idea to go to Bill’s. Especially not with the kid, he’d want to know everything about her in order to trust her.

“Let’s just-” Elva sighed. “Let’s just get a move on.”


	10. ★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: I NEED A CAR  
** ★★★★★★★★★★

"Is that the old water tower?" Elva asked, the group walking down an old deserted road that led to the town of Lincoln. "God. Some things don't change." She exclaimed.

Joel nodded. "It should be faster to cut through the road."'

Ellie nodded and they jumped over the metal fence dividing the road from the wilderness, stepping onto rocks and into a largely overgrown area. The only signs of life around them were some footpaths, probably carved in by Bill himself.

"Man..." Ellie spoke, looking around in awe as the group walked down the path.

"What?" Joel asked.

"Nothing- It's just, I've never seen anything like this, that's all."

"You mean the woods?" Elva smirked, trying not to trip over roots that had dug into the ground over time.

"Yeah. Never walked through the woods." Ellie stated. "It's kinda cool."

Even though it was a horrible situation, they had to admit, the sun pouring through the trees and rocks that surrounded them was beautiful. Joel remembered all the times he, Elva and Tommy had cut through those woods to help Bill set up his own town. They thought he would let people in and quarantine after that, but they were wrong.

"Hey, Joel?" Ellie inquired, the man nodding and continuing to walk ahead of her, through the thick bushes. "Why don't you just take us back to Marlene?"

"If she was up to the task, why'd she drop you two off on us?"

"Well, maybe she's better now." She paused. "Plus, I already have an adult with me. It just doesn't make much sense, that's all."

I know that FEDRA wouldn't let some kid hang around with someone who used to hang around with the Fireflies." He stated, pointing to Elva.

"Ellie, we wouldn't have survived a second out there. FEDRA is looking all over for you, it'd be much worse if it was just me, you and Marlene." The woman spoke, walking through a small river flowing down in between the rock mounds.

"But Marlene would be there. She could protect us."

"Kid, I don't mean to upset you, but Marlene's chances of survival weren't too high to begin with." Joel spoke. "Every single Firefly is under heavy investigation by FEDRA. One slip up, they're dead."

"She's a lot tougher than you think." Ellie rebutted.

"It doesn't matter." Joel stated, readjusting the straps on his backpack. "'Cause I doubt that we could get you _and_ Marlene back into the city in one piece. Trust me. I wish there was some other option."

A rabbit ran by as they were walking up to the wall that separated the wild woods and Bill's town. "Woah, hey buddy." Ellie exclaimed as it ran back into the trees.

"They're cute little things, aren't they?" Elva asked, smiling as she spotted its little ears poking out of one of the bushes.

"Yeah. Apparently they used to be common house pets, which is unbelievable." The young girl smiled, imagining a world where she could have a pet dog, or maybe even a cat.

"My friend had one for a while, but it was kind of crazy." Elva scoffed. "It would attack me every time I came over."

Ellie snorted. "That would've been a sight to see."

Joel approached the town gate. "Well, shit." He spoke, tugging on the chain. Locked, as per usual. Bill took _many_ precautions, he was just a _tad_ paranoid, per say.

"Should we climb it?" Ellie asked.

"No, there's too much wire on the top." Elva pointed at the curled barbed wire sitting atop of the fence. It was a good idea for protection, but an infected would do anything and everything to kill and turn someone. "We should find a way to go around the gate."

"Woah, look!" Ellie exclaimed, holding her hands out as little glowing orbs swayed around her torso. "Fireflies! I mean, like- _real_ fireflies."

Elva smiled, happy that the young girl she had known for so long was seeing everything she never got the chance to. Rabbits, fireflies, the woods, everything.

"Sorry, I- I lost myself for a sec." Ellie stated, hoisting up over a fallen tree log and continuing to look in the fence for a secondary entrance.

"Hey." Elva spoke softly, nudging Ellie with her arm. "After this whole thing is done, I'll take you into some back woods in Jackson. The fireflies there are beautiful."

Ellie's eyes lit up as she nodded, letting Elva shove her softly back over to where Joel was making headway, jumping on top of one of the old, useless generators and placing a plank from one roof to another one.

"Here we go." He spoke, letting the other two walk across into the fenced area first before stepping onto the roof himself.

"Think that's Bill?" Elva asked Joel, pointing to a large beacon of smoke coming from the town.

"Hopefully." He stated.

"Where do you usually meet him?" Ellie asked, kicking her shoes against the metal of the roof.

"Usually outside of the perimeters, we helped him build his traps up a long time ago, but I've never been in there." Joel answered, jumping down onto the roads below.

Ellie followed him. "And that smoke, you think that's him?" She asked, turning to Elva as she jumped down as well.

"Let's just keep our fingers crossed that it is." She spoke. If something happened to Bill, it was _big_. Little to nothing could get in through his town and reach him. If something had breached into Lincoln, it was something horrifyingly smart.

"Well, let's go check it out then." Ellie exclaimed, dodging all of the barrels full of unknown items that were scattered across the grassy area.

They continued walking along the fenced area, grabbing stray supplies left in the small buildings placed around the small sector. They hadn't made it into the actual town yet, but luckily, Joel found a way in.

"Down here." He yelled, leading the rest of the group to approach the broken fence, molded perfectly to walk through. "Just watch your step. It's a good drop."

Elva jumped down after him, pushing her hands into the concrete as she landed. She stood up, wiping the dirt and grass off of her hands. "Fuck." She exclaimed, the sounds of clickers and runners echoing through the street. "Hear that?"

Joel nodded. "I'd expect this place to be clear of everything. What's gotten into him?"

"No clue." Elva stated, jumping up onto a metal platform after Ellie. "But whatever it is, I doubt it's anything good."

They stepped into one of the buildings, scouring the whole floor for any supplies they could find. All of a sudden, Ellie began to make blowing sounds, causing both Joel and Elva to turn around and look at her in concern.

"You alright?" The woman asked.

"I'm trying to learn how to whistle." Ellie stated, making both of the adults laugh a little.

"You don't know how to whistle?" Joel asked genuinely.

"Well does it sound like I know how to whistle?"

After the whole whistling ordeal was over, they exited back out of the building, looking around and trying to make as little noise as they could, not wanting to attract any infected if they could help it.

They ran up to another one of the gates, barbed wire circling around the top. "It's jammed from the other side." Joel spoke, shaking it with his hands a few times before giving up.

"Boost me up." Elva stated, shrugging her shoulders.

"No, that's not such a good idea." Joel replied, shaking his hand.

"Well, neither of us can boost you up." She pointed out. "How else are we gonna open it?" Elva walked up to Joel, kicking at the gate.

The man sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alright, gimme your foot." He placed his hands in a cup on his thigh, letting Elva push her foot against them. Joel gave her a boost upwards and she climbed over the top of the gate, dropping down on the other side and pull out the wedged pipe.

"There ya' go." Elva stated, opening the gate and letting Joel and Ellie walk through into the main area of town.

They walked around, silence encumbering them for a few moments as they padded their sneakers and boots across the overgrown concrete. It was eerie, but strangely calming in a way, as well.

"So, let's say we get a car from this guy, then what?" Ellie asked, breaking the peaceful yet uncomfortable silence.

"Well, then we go find Tommy." Joel stated, reloading and brandishing his pistol quickly.

"Marlene said you knew him, and that he was your brother." Ellie recalled, looking to Elva and then back to Joel.

"More importantly, he was a Firefly." Elva spoke. "He can help us with directions to the Firefly lab."

"Well don't you know where it is?" Ellie asked. "You mentioned it was in Salt Lake City, didn't you?"

Elva sighed. "I don't remember how to get there, Marlene never gave me directions and I never went there pre-outbreak. Plus, there's rumours going around that they moved to another location."

"Oh, okay." Ellie nodded.

"Jackson's halfway across the country, we'll need a car to get there in time." Joel butted in, walking into a small alleyway. It looked like it used to be a small flower shop.

"Hey look, gnomes!" Ellie pointed out. Joel and Elva walked over to her, looking at the old, painted porcelain statues. "Man, I had an art book filled with these. I always thought they were super cute. Not fairies though. They creep me out."

"Are you kidding?" Elva asked, a large smile on her face. "The fairies are _totally_ the best ones. They're so magical."

"Nope. Too creepy."

"To each their own." She replied. Joel watched as the other two conversed, his chest hurting as he wished to have conversations like that with his own daughter. He _needed_ to stop thinking about it, recently it had just been stirring in his mind more often. Joel didn't know why.

"Oh! Look at that!" Ellie exclaimed as they walked into a small bar-type building. She ran up to one of the old arcade machines, brushing her fingers against the dust and dirt that had built up against the sides of it.

"What, you played this before?" Joel asked, walking up alongside Elva and gazing over the dust-covered screen.

"Nah. But I had a friend who knew _everything_ about this game." She answered, running her hands and fingers over the controls. "Apparently, there's this character called Angel Knives who'd- what was it? She'd punch a hole through your stomach before kicking your head off."

"Wow. Sounds gruesome." Elva stated.

"No wonder I was never a big fan of these things." Joel spoke. "That would've terrified me." He scoffed.

"I wish I could play it." Ellie sighed.

They exited the building, coming out with nothing of worth in their pockets. It was cleaned out, dry. Bill really did do a thorough job.

" _Mandatory Evacuation._ " Ellie read, looking at the big sign sitting on one of the main streets in the town. "Evacuate to where?"

"Quarantine Zone, most likely." Elva answered.

"But how would they have known?" Ellie asked.

"Some places got a head's up before the infection showed up. Most didn't." Joel replied, gazing at the red and white sign. It was almost ancient, it had been so long.

"Wouldn't the doctors be the first to know, though?"

"Nope." Elva stated. "Only the top government knew about it. We didn't even know what was going on that day. We just knew we needed to evacuate everyone we could that wasn't infected out of the building."

"Man, that must've been hard." Ellie softly spoke. "Leaving all your stuff, having to evacuate people."

"That ain't the hard part." Joel replied as they walked into an old music store. Records still placed on the shelves and drum kits still pressed against the windows. They hadn't been played by anyone for a very long time.

"Woah, look at this place!" Ellie exclaimed, rifling through the old records and CDs. Elva gazed at a few of the copies she used to own, remembering a time where she would sit in her childhood bedroom and do her homework while listening to some old rock album.

Simpler times.

"Man, this is kinda sad." Ellie spoke.

"What is?" Joel asked as he emerged from one of the back rooms, a note dangling out of his pocket. A perimeter note, probably written by Bill to himself.

"All this music that's just sitting here." Ellie answered. "No one's around to listen to it. I don't know. It just doesn't seem right."

Elva nodded. It was almost creepy in a sense, seeing all of the Help Wanted signs littered across different windows with nobody to look at them. The world had changed, and being outside now was a whole other world than what it used to be.

They walked up in front of a barricaded street, protecting the other end of the road with wood stacked upon barbed wire and stakes.

"That looks like Bill's handiwork if I've ever seen it." Elva scoffed, looking at the different chunks of mesh wood and wire.

"Anybody else live in this town?" Ellie asked.

"Far as I know, it's just him." Joel answered, picking up an old note, most likely left by people who came before Bill.

They walked down another alleyway, a clicker suddenly running by and tripping one of Bill's wires, exploding the nearby area.

"Jesus!" Joel yelled, ears ringing from the explosion.

"Who, Nelly. What- What the hell was that?" Ellie asked, breathing heavily.

"That would be one of Bill's traps." Elva explained, steadying herself and opening her jaw, trying to get her ears to stop ringing.

"Your friend's a bit paranoid, maybe?"

"Now that's putting it lightly." Joel scoffed, using one of Elva's shivs to open a locked door and rummaging around the building for any supplies.

"What's the deal with this guy?" Ellie asked.

"Old friend. Smuggler." Elva replied. "He knows how to find things."

"Well, let's hope we don't blow up trying to find him."

"Just watch your step." Joel stated. "You'll be fine."

They exited the building and continued walking through alleyways, ducking in and out of wires, trying desperately not to get blown up.

"Geez." Ellie grimaced, watching as Joel pulled out a few arrows from a mutilated corpse. It was hard to tell if it was even infected or not. "Is Bill good with a bow?"

"I reckon he is." Joel answered, using a small ladder left on the road to climb up onto a stray trailer that had been pushed against the wall. A small living chair and a few bottles of beer sat atop it, it was obviously a lookout spot.

Elva grabbed one of the bottles, smashing it in half and creating a small knife-like weapon in her hands. Joel grabbed a hold of the bow that Bill had left, admiring the craftsmanship and pulling at the bow before strapping it to his backpack.

"Let me use that!" Ellie spoke. "I'm a pretty good shot with that thing."

"How 'bout we just leave this kind of stuff to the adults." Joel replied, walking over a small plank to another side of the buildings, Elva and Ellie following shortly behind.

"Well, we could all be armed!" Ellie negotiated. "Cover all the bases."

"I don't think so."

"C'mon!" She groaned. "Elva? Please?" She begged, looking over at the woman.

"No way. You stick to the knife." Elva smiled, climbing up another ladder. Ellie rolled her eyes, reluctantly following the other two up onto another roof.

The group walked up and across a few more buildings before meeting a clicker in one of the rooftop alleyways, crouching down and scaling the ladder.

"Let's give this baby a whirl." Joel spoke, making sure not to hit Elva and Ellie from above them as he pulled out his bow, releasing it and perfectly sniping the clicker's head. It writhed back and forth for a few moments before collapsing to the concrete flooring.

"Now listen. Bill ain't exactly the most stable of individuals." He explained, sliding down the ladder and meeting the other two back down where the clicker laid. "So when we get there, you let Elva and I do the talkin'. You understand?"

"I understand." Ellie nodded.

"He doesn't take too kindly to strangers, El'." The woman spoke, wiping some of the  
blood off of her face as she talked. "He's a good guy, don't get me wrong. He just-"

"He needs some time warming up to you." Joel finished, grabbing the salvaged arrow  
from the clicker's head.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Elva smiled, jumping down another ladder set and ducking underneath a tripwired bomb. Ellie and Joel followed shortly behind, the latter soon taking the lead as they walked across the roads again.

A faint crashing noise came from one of the buildings. "You hear that?" Ellie asked timidly, watching as one of the doors that led into a building began spewing dust out, signifying there was something banging on the other side of it.

Elva opened the door, only to be met with an empty hallway and a scurrying noise. "You don't suppose it's a Stalker, right?" She smiled cockily, knowing of the infected's habits to run off.

"That wouldn't be a surprise." Joel scoffed. "Bill always hated 'em."

They began to walk into the house, only to be interrupted by Ellie, her voice laced with disbelief. "Oh, shit, you guys are gonna go in there?" She asked, her breath covering up most of her words.

"We gotta get supplies." Joel stated.

"You're gonna find my body when I die from a heart attack."

"Ellie." Elva stated, walking up the stairs after Joel. "Trust us."

They walked through the small apartment, hearing a clatter or a shuffle every now and again, but it wasn't too loud, meaning the infected-or whatever it was- wasn't close enough to attack just yet.

"Shit!" Elva yelled as the infected they had heard earlier came running at them from one of the bedrooms. She quickly pulled out the hunting rifle she had gotten earlier, taking a few shots at the infected's head before Joel bashed it with an old pipe, sending it hurtling to the ground.

"Geez." Ellie exclaimed. "That thing scared the shit outta me."

"Well, while we're here, let's search the place." Joel stated, walking through the apartment and trying to find anything of use.

Elva scanned one of the bedrooms, finding an old letter laying on the bed. She sat down on the quilted blanket, skimming her fingers lightly over the dirty parchment.

_'Rachel, Soldiers are going door to door and forcing people onto the buses. I hear yelling a couple of buildings down- time's running out. I tried calling, waiting, I don't know what to do, but I can't wait anymore. I've thrown most of our stuff into a couple of suitcases. I'll be waiting for you in the quarantine zone. Come find me. I'll see you soon! -Ezra'_

Elva looked at the note with a sad smile on her face, not even noticing that Joel had entered the room until the end of the bed dipped down beside her.

"You think they ever found each other?" She asked, handing Joel the note and letting him read it for himself.

He sighed. "How would I know?"

"I like to think that they did." Elva smiled, wiping some of the infected's blood off of her face before standing up, following Joel and Ellie back out of the apartment and into the outside again.

"Shit. Look at this." Joel exclaimed, inspecting a fence gate that was double-tripwired with two different bombs.

Elva grabbed her half-bottle that she had still lingering around, stepping back against the wall. "Watch out." She said, letting Ellie and Joel back up before she threw the bottle at the bombs, letting the smoke from the explosion clear before stepping in through the small fenced off area.

"Those things are kinda awesome." Ellie spoke, following Elva and Joel through the grass-ridden alleyway.

"See that?" Joel asked, pointing at the string on the ground. "Get back." He spoke, shooting the side with his gun. "Come on."

They walked into a large brick building, Joel leading the way. As he walked in the room, a chain trap grasped a hold of his leg, holding him up by the ceiling.

"Joel!" Elva yelled, running over to where he was hanging and immediately trying to unclasp the chain from his ankle. "God fucking damnit, Bill." She breathed.

"What just happened?" Ellie asked.

"It's another one of Bill's stupid traps!" Joel exclaimed. He looked around the room for some sort of way to get him out. "There, that fridge." He pointed across the room. "It looks like that's the counterweight."

Ellie and Elva jogged over to the blue fridge held up by one of the old chains, trying to desperately pull it down and unlatch it.

"Cut that rope and it'll bring me down!" Joel yelled. Elllie handed the older woman her knife and began their attempt to cut the rope that was wrapped around the blue fridge.

The noises of the fence outside rattling caught everyone's attention, forcing them to watch as infected began to climb over the fences.

"Shit, here they come!" Joel yelled, pulling out his gun and attempting to shoot the infected before they got a chance to get inside.

"Ellie, keep cutting the rope." Elva demanded, handing the young girl her knife back as she grasped her pistol in her hands. "As long as Joel doesn't shoot me in the face, I'll be fine."

"Have some faith in me, here!" He yelled.

Joel kept the ones that were trying to get to him at bay whilst Elva shot and killed most of the infected that had gotten through the fences.

"Ellie, how's it looking?" Joel asked after a few minutes, fighting off one of the runners that had gotten to him.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" She responded.

"Fuck!" Elva yelled, a runner pushing her over and tackling her to the ground. She spun herself over quickly and shot the infected, getting back on her feet before any more could get in through the fence.

Joel shot a clicker that had managed to get to Ellie right off of the fridge, sending its body flying into the brick wall behind it.

They battled the horrific infected for what seemed like hours, trying not to let any of them take a bite out of their exposed skin.

"Ellie!" Elva yelled, looking back and forth through the open garage doors.

"Agh!" The young girl groaned. "I need a bit more time!" She began pulling at the rope, hoping that if it toppled over, it would loosen and Joel would fall to the ground again. Instead, it only pulled him up higher as the fridge dropped onto its side, putting Ellie at more of a risk.

Elva ran inside, covering the young girl as she continued on trying to cut and untie the thick rope. "Here!" The woman yelled, passing Joel a pack of ammo.

"Thanks." He spoke, loading his gun quickly before facing back towards the enemies hurtling themselves at him at high speeds. Luckily, Elva took out as many of them as she could at once, leaving only a few stragglers to come in and attack him head-on.

"They're getting too close, I can't hold them off for that long!" Elva yelled, reloading the last of her ammo into her pistol.

Finally, Ellie managed to slice the rope, sending Joel hard to the ground. His back hit the concrete, leaving him a bit winded as he got up.

"Joel! Watch out!" Elva yelled, watching as her friend got toppled over once again by another runner.

Before the other two could run to save him, a man with a machete took the infected's head clean off. "Get off your ass and on your feet!" Bill yelled, gas mask muffling his words.

They ran out of the garage immediately, Elva grabbing some ammo from the ground quickly and loading it into her gun before continuing to sprint alongside Bill, Ellie and Joel.

"Which way?" Ellie asked, watching as they ran in circles looking for an exit out of the car block they were surrounded by.

"Alright, we'll ah- We'll cut through." Bill explained. "C'mon, here!"

"Run, Ellie!" Elva yelled, sprinting alongside Joel. Her breath staggered more and more by the second, causing her to end up hyperventilating a bit.

"Where's that goddamn key?" Bill exclaimed, trying to get one of the doors to a building unlocked.

Elva and Joel shot down three of the runners trying to get to them in the alleyway, Bill finally managing to open the door. They entered what looked like an old laundromat, old clothes and bottles scattered all over the floor.

"Don't slow down." Bill stated. "This place ain't secure!"

"Bill, they're coming through the door!" Joel yelled, watching as a clicker flooded through their escape exit.

"Fuckin' knew it." Bill breathed. "Take 'em out, that's our only way through."

The others nodded, Elva taking initiative and slamming an old pipe from one of the laundry machines into the clicker's head, bashing it a few times for good measure before letting its body fall to the ground.

"Stay back, Ellie!" Joel exclaimed as him and his two old friends fought off many more infected.

"Alright, come on- we're almost there." Bill panted, walking around the bodies of clickers and runners. He attempted to walk around the blood pools circling around them, but his shoes were stained by the end of it. "Follow me."

"Oh, shit!" Elva yelled, walking out of the laundromat and into a protected area, well, it was protected until more and more infected began climbing up the barbed wire.

"They're gettin' through!" Bill stated. "Keep going. This way- through the truck!"

The group followed him through an old, empty cargo van, running for their lives. They made it out the other side, scrambling to make it through the small brick alleyway that was covered in ivy.

Finally, the group of four ran into one of the buildings, Joel and Bill slamming the door behind them as Elva scanned Ellie for any injuries.

Bill quickly clasped the door shut with his barricade, hearing the sounds of clickers fade away as it gave up on trying to hunt the group down.

Ellie sighed, exhausted. "Man... that was close." Bill began speed walking towards her, leaving her to continue backing up slowly. "Uh... thanks for the heroics and all." She stuttered, Elva attempting to stand in between the two, only to be pushed back by Bill as he took off his gas mask. "Uh, Ellie." She introduced, holding her hand out for a handshake, only for it to be clasped into a pair of cuffs and locked to the pipe.

"Bill, let her go!" Elva yelled.

Joel turned around, finally noticing what had happened and approached Bill and Elva.

"Turn around and get on your knees." Bill demanded, pulling out his pistol and pointing it at the other two adults.

They compiled, only holding their hands up, though. "Just calm down a second." Joel negotiated.

"Turn around and get on your knees!" Bill yelled.

"Alright!" Elva complied, turning around only to be kicked down to kneel.

"Don't test me!"

"Just-" Joel winced. "Take it easy."

Elva turned her head lightly, watching as Ellie pulled rapidly against the pipe, trying to get out of the cuffs.

"You two got any bites?" Bill asked, searching the two for any sign of infection.

"No!" Elva yelled, hands still restrained.

"Anything sprouting?"

"No, goddamnit!" Joel answered. "We're clean!"

"Well if I see so much as a twitch-"

Finally, Ellie got the pipe loosened, and just as Bill came to search her for bites, she successfully hit him in the shoulder with the pipe.

Elva and Joel sprung up, preventing her from hitting Bill anymore than one time. "Ellie, calm down." Elva spoke, holding Ellie back and turning back towards Bill.

"Son of a _bitch!"_ He exclaimed, rubbing his arm in pain.

"Are you done?!" Joel asked, holding the pipe he had grabbed from Ellie in his hands.

"Am I done?" Bill sarcastically rebutted. "You come into _my_ house, you set off all _my_ traps, you damn-near break my shootin' arm-'' He listed, glaring at Ellie. "Who the fuck is this punk and what's she doing here?"

" _I_ am none of your goddamn business, and we're here because you owe Joel and Elva some favours!" Ellie yelled, raising her wrist, handcuffs still attached. "And you can start by taking these off." She cooled down, letting Elva rest her hand on her shoulder to calm the young girl down a bit more.

"I owe Joel and Elva some favours, is this some kind of joke?" He scoffed, walking over to one of the wooden tables and pulling his machete out of his backpack strap.

"We'll cut to the chase." Elva stated, standing beside Bill and Joel. "We need a car."

Bill laughed sarcastically, sharpening his blade as he talked. "Well it is a joke. Joel and Elva need a car. Well, if I had one that works- which I sure as hell don't, what makes you think I'd just give it to you two? Huh?" He asked. "Yeah, sure, you two, go ahead, take my car." Bill stated, looking back down at his knife. "Take all my food while you're at it."

"By the looks of it you could lose some of that food." Ellie spoke rudely.

Elva sighed. "Ellie-"

Bill grasped his machete tighter, pointing the blade at the young teenager. "Listen to me you little shit-"

"No, fuck you!" She yelled. "You handcuffed me-"

"I need you to shut up." Joel spoke to Ellie, holding her back in a more forceful tone than Elva. "Alright?" He only earned a simple scoff from the girl in return.

"Whatever favours you think I owe you two, it ain't worth that much." Bill stated, looking at Joel and Elva.

"Actually, Bill, they are." Joel announced.

In that moment, the man sighed. Joel was right. They had helped him build up his town from the ground up, and Elva had helped him numerous times with some of the bad deals he had made with fellow smugglers around town. It was worth a car, maybe even more.

Bill breathed out heavily, admitting a bit of defeat. "Well, it don't matter 'cause I don't have a car that works."

"But there is one in this town." Elva replied, her hands resting against the old, nailed-together, wooden table.

"Parts. There are parts in this town."

"Meaning that you _could_ fix one up." Joel stated.

Bill sighed, dropping his blade on the table. "Alright." He spoke, Ellie approaching the table alongside the group as he spread out a small map. "If I'm gonna do this, there's gear I'm gonna need."

He pointed to one section of the map. "It's on the other side of town. Now if you three help me go gather it, _maybe_ I could put together something that runs." Bill reached into his pocket. "But after this, I owe you two nothin'." He frowned, slamming the keys to the handcuffs onto the table.

"Good." Elva stated, taking the keys and releasing Ellie's hand from the cuff.

"Couple days from now, we'll probably be dead anyway." Joel spoke, turning to one of the exit doors on the other side of the room.

"Follow me." Bill replied. "Whole goddamn town's booby trapped, it's best to stay right on my ass." He demanded, freshly-sharpened machete in hand.

"Can't miss it..." Ellie poked.

"Knock it off." Joel replied.

★★★★★


	11. ★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: LET'S GET ON WITH IT  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★

The dirty, moldy bar was seemingly fit for a man like Bill, a man who only cared for himself. Each of the booths were cut open and stripped of their once vibrant red colour. The blinds on all of the windows had fallen off, and some of the bricks on the wall had detached themselves. It was a sad sight to see.

"Alright, whatever supplies you may want or need, I suggest you grab them." Bill stated, gesturing to the trio of Ellie, Joel and Elva with his machete.

"Thank you." Joel replied genuinely. "Let's take a look around, see if there's anything we can use."

Ellie sighed. "Alrighty."

"Aye, aye, captain." Elva smirked sarcastically, grabbing the map off of the wooden table and folding it up, putting it in one of the pockets in her backpack.

Joel walked around as well, finding a few stray tape roles and blades. He handed them to Elva, letting her spread the supplies out on the table and fix together some simple shivs and makeshift first-aid kits.

"Can you make any weapons?" Ellie asked, gazing in wonder as her friend packed up the homemade items. She stood on the other end of the bar beside Joel.

Elva smirked. "Probably. Can you grab me that pipe?" She asked, letting the young girl walk a few meters to the side and hand her an old, rusty plumbing piece. Elva quickly fashioned a few extra blades onto the end of it, throwing it up in the air and catching it a few times.

"Found everything you need?" Bill asked, standing at the exit door.

"We're good." Joel answered, Elva and Ellie trailing behind him as Bill opened the door and walked into one of the back rooms and up the stairs.

"Don't leave the door open!" Bill yelled.

"I got it." Elva replied, shutting the door behind her as she made her way up the staircase after Joel and Ellie.

"We have to cross to the other building." Bill stated. "Let's move it."

Ellie scoffed, Joel immediately turning to her with a scornful glare. "Just stay with us." He spoke, gesturing back and forth between himself and Elva.

"Can't believe you agreed to this bullshit, Bill." The man at the top of the stairs groaned, talking to himself. "What you shoulda done was just left them back there."

"God, you guys weren't kidding about him." Ellie exclaimed.

"Yeah, he's- one of a kind." Elva replied, trying to find the right words to describe Bill. "I'll go take a look up here really quickly." She stated.

"Nothin' in there that I need." Bill spoke. "Go ahead, take whatever you want."

Joel quickly thanked him, Elva already scurrying off into another room to look for any supplies. Unfortunately, all she found was an old pair of scissors and a note-to-self left by Bill on one of the tables.

"So what kind of trouble are y'all in?" Bill asked as the four grouped back together in the main room again. "Where the hell's Tess?"

Joel's stomach dropped at the mention of his friend. "It's a job." He answered, not wanting to go into detail about where Tess had gone. "A simple drop-off." Elva placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort, knowing that he and Tess were close friends.

"What are you delivering? That little brat?"

Ellie laughed sarcastically. "Fuck you, too."

"Y'know, I hope you know what you're doin'." Bill exclaimed, turning backwards to face Joel and Elva as he leapt out one of the windows and onto a small platform.

"Are you kidding me with this guy?" Ellie scoffed.

Joel ignored her, letting Elva jump out of the window first and following her. "Where are we goin', Bill?" He asked.

"My other safehouse." The man explained. "It's more of an armory."

"Wait, I thought we were gonna fix up a car?" Ellie asked.

"We?" Bill laughed cockily. "You know how to fix a-"

Elva interrupted him. "Bill..." She spoke, jumping through the other broken window after him. "Just-"

"It's like I said, what I need is on the other side of town." He explained. "Now, that side I don't ever go to 'cause it's filled with infected. So, we're gonna need more guns."

The group resorted to silence as they followed Bill through the house, reloading their guns and grabbing any stray ammo containers left on the wooden flooring. They walked down another set of stairs, only being met with the howls of an infected.

Elva shushed the group. "There's one inside."

"Oh- I've been meaning to take care of that. Relax, it's nothin'." Bill replied, casually walking through the house. "So, you \didn't answer my question about Tess." He turned around to face Joel. "I mean, I thought you two were inseparable."

"She's busy." Joel answered shortly.

They approached one of the broken windows, a headless infected dangling from the windowsill in one of the traps Bill had set. He took out his machete and began slicing the body, hacking at it until it stopped moving.

"Yeah, sure... busy. Sounds to me like there might be some trouble in paradise." Bill teased, making Joel scoff and roll his eyes.

" _Paradise?_ " He asked.

"Yeah." Bill clarified. "What? You're tellin' me you _didn't_ have the hots for Tess?"

Joel became increasingly more uncomfortable as the conversation went on. "No- um- no... I had someone else." He spoke, clearing his throat.

"Aw, gross." Ellie exclaimed.

Elva smirked, amused by her old friend. "I know. Totally gross." She made a fake-gagging sound, making Ellie chuckle a bit as Bill finished chopping up the infected.

"Alright, here we go." The man announced, using a pair of keys to open the wooden door, sunlight pouring into the room.

Bill, followed by Joel, Elva, and then Ellie, exited the building and breathed in the fresh air, looking at all the decimated vehicles with rotting bodies hanging from the open windows.

"So... why don't you fix one of these cars?" Ellie asked.

"Oh my god, you're a genius!" Bill exclaimed sarcastically. "I mean the whole time, why on Earth hadn't I thought about fixin' one of these cars?"

"Bill, don't be a dick." Elva scorned, glaring at the man she once considered her friend.

"Their tires are rotted and their batteries are dead." He answered. "I can't even begin to think about what the inside of the engine looks like. The only ones making new car batteries are the military."

"Infected!" Ellie yelled, cutting Bill's explanation quite short. One of his traps immediately went off, giving Elva and Joel time to equip their pistols and start shooting.

"Ah, shit." Bill exclaimed. "Lock and load."

The wails of runners drowned out the sounds of more and more bombs being set off, relieving the group's ears from ringing as they began taking out the mass of runners and clickers.

Ellie propped herself up behind one of the cars, Bill taking the right side of the road and Elva and Joel taking the left. The two latter took down a few runners, Elva using her altered pipe to slice through an infected's neck, killing it in one hit. Joel grabbed another's head and slammed it into the fence, blood splattering everywhere.

"You've gotten sloppy at that, Miller." Elva teased, snapping another one's neck.

Joel scoffed. "Yeah, like you're any better."

"Hey, at least I'm not the one with blood all over their shirt." She bantered, making sure to check in on Ellie every few moments.

The blood pooling underneath each dead body made the concrete slippier and slippier, so the group resorted to taking the high ground on a concrete platform on top of the road, blowing a few infected's heads off with their guns.

"Alright... You gotta check the barricades again." Bill mumbled to himself, all of the runners around them rendered dead. "You neglect all the simple shit and now you're paying for it. You know what that means- taking all the supplies from the warehouse and lugging it to the east fence again. Then it'll take you-"

"Okay, well now he's talking to himself." Ellie stated, rolling her eyes at the older man's antics. Elva sighed. Bill usually went on meaningless tangents with his own brain, and sometimes, it was exhausting for both parties.

"Bill? Earth to Bill?" She yelled, snapping her fingers.

"This way." He stated, grabbing a hold of another gate and leading them towards his safehouse. "And up we go."

"You picked a hell of a place to hole up, didn't ya?" Joel asked, walking up the mossy, overgrown steps.

"You know, as bad as those things are, at least they're predictable." Bill stated, his beard covering up his twitching mouth. "It's the normal people that scare me. You two, of all people should understand that."

Elva nodded. "Yeah. I get that." She replied, Joel opting to stay silent.

"What does that mean?" Ellie asked.

"Nothin'." Joel answered. "You sure that gate's gonna hold 'em?" He inquired, turning to Bill as they reached the final platform of the staircase.

"Well, I locked it. They don't have a key." The man replied.

They made it up to a church, the grass under their covered feet becoming a nice change from the constant concrete hurting their heels.

"So, which way now?" Elva asked.

"We're here." Bill stated. "It's in the cellar."

Everyone looked over to the two underground doors, walking over and opening them.

"Alright, down here." Bill spoke, walking down the steps into the cellar slowly. "Well, here we are." He stated. The room was fairly dark, but Joel could _just_ about make out a few tables and supply cabinets. "You, don't touch anything." Bill demanded, looking to Ellie. "And you, close the door!"

Elva nodded, succumbing the room into total darkness by shutting the cellar doors as Bill had asked. Speaking of, he lit up one of the gas lanterns sitting on a cabinet, giving light to the room once again.

"Let's gear up." Bill stated.

Ellie went to follow him to get a weapon, but she was stopped by Elva. "Nope."

"What? Elva, I need a gun." She whined.

"No, you don't." The woman sighed. "You have to trust me and Joel here."

"I can handle myself."

"Just stay there." Joel reprimanded, walking alongside Elva back to where Bill was.

Ellie scoffed. "Fine. I'll just wait around for you two to get me killed."

Bill was visibly irritated by the young girl in his cellar, but he didn't say anything whilst pulling his shotgun out of one of the containers. "Well, this goes on record as the worst fucking job you two have ever taken."

"It's up there." Joel replied.

"How in the hell is Tess okay with this suicide mission?" Bill asked, unknowingly striking a nerve in Joel. Before he could explain that she was dead, Elva held her hand on his chest, stopping him from making a move towards Bill.

"It's actually her idea." He sighed, following his friend's silent advice.

"Really?" Bill asked, truly surprised. "Well, then the broad's not as smart as I thought she was." He scoffed, placing his shotgun on one of the metal tables.

Elva looked to Joel before he turned around. "Don't." She spoke softly, only loud enough for the two to hear. "He doesn't need to know, not now, at least."

"-But fuck her. Seriously. You two gotta take that kid back to where you found her." Bill continued as the two others turned around to face him.

"We can't just take her back." Joel explained.

"Then send her packing, let her find her own way."

"She's one of mine, Bill." Elva explained, causing Joel to shoot her a side-glance of confusion. Where the hell did Ellie actually come from. "We're not doing anything of the sort."

Albeit confused, Bill continued to try and persuade the two as he loaded his shotgun with ammo. "Look, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I had somebody that I cared about." He paused, letting the surprise sink into Joel and Elva's faces. "It was a partner. Somebody I had to look after." He pressed. "And in this world, that sort of shit is good for one thing. Gettin' ya killed." Bill explained, grabbing another shotgun. "So you know what I did? Wisened the fuck up, and realized it's just gotta be me."

Joel looked away hesitantly. "Bill, it- it ain't like that-"

"Bullshit. It is _just_ like that." The man demanded. He looked around, spotting Ellie touching some of his stuff on one of his cabinets. "Hey!" He yelled as he finished loading the last gun. "What did I say to you when we walked down the steps?" Ellie hesitated, her hands still on Bill's stuff. "What'd I say?!"

"I'm just fixing your stupid pile!" Ellie yelled, stepping away from the stuff. Elva stood up, giving Ellie a scornful look, but she knew it wasn't _entirely_ the kid's fault. Bill was very high-maintenance about that kind of stuff.

"Don't. Touch." He yelled firmly, only for Ellie to simply scoff and give him the finger rudely. "Goddamnit. You two keep babysitting long enough and eventually it's going to blow up in your face, even if it's your kid." Bill spoke, turning to Elva.

"Not my _kid._ " She confirmed, making sure that he knew that Ellie wasn't her daughter.

"Does it look like I give a shit about who's related to who?"

"Bill, can we please just get on with it?" Joel pleaded softly, his eyes sunken. Elva couldn't tell if it was because of his harsh words to Tess or if it was from pure confusion.

"Here." Bill spoke, throwing one shotgun to Joel and the other to Elva, grabbing the last one and equipping it onto his backpack strap. "Let's get on with it."

★★★★★


	12. ★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: IT'S EMPTY  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★

Finally, everyone was equipped with the weapons and tools they needed. Well, everyone apart from Ellie, that is.

"Alright, before we go any further, I got somethin' I gotta show you." Bill stated, pulling something together on one of his tables. "New toy from the toy box. This is a nail bomb. You gotta be really careful. This thing blows, it shreds anybody standing nearby." Joel grabbed it, placing it in his backpack for a later use.

Elva scoffed. "Yeah. We've seen your stuff."

"Pretty good, huh?"

"So we got shotguns and bombs." Joel started. "What the hell are we doing with 'em?"

"Well, every few weeks this military caravan rides through town." Bill explained. "I assume they're out looking for supplies. I mean, you'd be amazed at the shit they overlook." He spoke, laughing a bit to himself before carrying on. "Anyway, a few months back, they were rolling through and they got overrun by this horde of infected." He told, making large movements with his gloved hands. "They were all over the truck. It plowed right into the side of the high school. It's still sitting there with the battery in it."

"So we take that battery and put it in another car?" Elva assumed.

"Bingo." Bill spoke, pointing towards her. "I wanted to get it, but it seemed too dangerous with all the infected in that part of town. But, fuck it... Joel and Elva need a car."

Joel sighed. "What if it's damaged?" He asked, pessimistically.

"Nah. Those trucks are like tanks." Bill explained. "It's just sittin' there."

"This might actually work." Elva smiled, hope written in her eyes. Joel never understood how she could have optimism during times like those. He was thankful for it, though. It was one of the only things that made him smile during his years of running from FEDRA.

No supplies were leftover in the bunker, so the group made their way back upstairs, Ellie trailing behind the other adults.

Bill groaned, noticing the young girl inspecting all of his stuff. "Kid, I swear to God, if you took anything-"

"Hey, man. I don't need any of your shit." She stated. "Trust me."

"Elva, you are keeping an eye on her, right?" Bill asked.

The woman rolled her eyes in amusement. "Like a hawk, Bill." She laughed silently, looking at Ellie with a cheeky smile on her face.

They made their way through the top of the church without a problem, walking through the beautiful main room, the sunlight pouring through the gorgeous, long and tinted windows. It was truly magnificent. Joel couldn't remember the last time he had been in a church, it had been a while.

"Wow." Elva breathed, her face lighting up under the golden light. Joel watched, a look of amusement on his face. She looked like a kid in a candy store, but in reality, it was just a beautiful view taking her breath away.

"Nice place you got here." Joel spoke.

Elva scoffed. "That's an understatement."

Bill rolled his eyes at the two's small banter. "Well, nice or not, if you got anything to confess, this'd be the place to do it." He stated, an edge of guilt to his voice. All of the candles on the altar were burned out, the crosses scattered, but still kept on the table. "Alright, time to sack up." Bill spoke.

He opened one of the windows of the church, Ellie finally catching up with the group after getting distracted by the beautiful lights. The three jumped out of the window after Bill, landing softly on the roof.

"Look, there's the school." Bill pointed out, watching as the sun set below the trees ahead of them. "Ready?"

"Guess we'll find out." Joel mumbled. Elva jumped down onto the soft grass, followed by Ellie and Joel. Bill did the same, but with a little bit more grunting.

Surrounding them was a graveyard, headstones upon headstones of people who had been lost before the outbreak. It was despairing, seeing each person who had passed with no family or friends to clean up their overgrown graves.

"Oh, man." Ellie exclaimed, grossed out by the huge pile of dead infected bodies laying on the grass.

"C'mon, Ellie." Elva waved. "You don't need to be seeing that."

"What? I've seen worse." Ellie stated.

Joel shook his head, walking over to the other three. Bill sighed, poking at the bodies with a stray stick before speaking. "Let's get a move on. But past this gate, it's all new territory to me."

"Stick close, okay?" Elva stated, Ellie nodding in understanding.

The sound of a few clickers sounded through the graveyard, sending a bit of worry through everyone. "Keep quiet." Joel hushed.

Everyone walked to one of the wide open gates, staying as silent as they could as one of the clickers walked by.

"Fuckin' creepy." Ellie exclaimed, only for Elva to shush her. They were dealing with clickers, anything else and it would've been fine.

They silently snuck out another gate and down a set of stone stairs, approaching another level of the graveyard. Another clicker met them on the grass, but thankfully, it didn't see the four humans.

Elva passed Joel a glass bottle she had found on the ground, letting him toss it against the far side of the wall. Immediately, the clickers ran over towards the sound, inspecting to see if anyone had made their way around.

Successfully sneaking out of the graveyard, they made their way to a wooden courtyard gate. Joel attempted to open it, only to be met with a click of the doorknob. "Ah, shit. It's locked."

"Hold up. "I got a key for that gate." Bill spoke, pulling a large keychain out of his pocket and unlocking the gate. "I suggest we move quietly."

They walked up onto the street, meeting a few infected hanging around. Bill stayed in the gate area whilst the others hid behind a trash can, pondering whether they could sneak by them or not.

"We can't get past them without killing them." Elva stated. She was right. There were no possible gaps they could squeeze through without gaining their attention.

"If we make too much noise, the clicker's will come." Joel spoke.

Elva pursed her lips, crouching down and walking over to the runners. What the hell was she doing? Quickly, she wrapped her arms around one of the runners and snapped its neck, doing the same with the other.

"You weren't kiddin' about this place, were ya?" Joel asked, taking down another runner on one of the side streets.

They leaped over a large log that had fallen in the middle of the road, Elva pulling her bow out and sending an arrow straight through one of the infected's eyes. Honestly, Joel was impressed at her aim, she had improved tremendously over the years.

They continued walking down the road, taking out any infected they passed on their way through. A clicker ran up to them, noticing their presence and alerting another runner. Joel took out one of them, and Elva took out the other, thankfully accepting Bill's help as he shot at the infected.

Blood pooled underneath the dead bodies as they collapsed onto the road. Ellie sighed, frustrated with the adults around her. "If you guys would give me a gun, I could help you kill some of these fuckers!"

"Ellie, we are not talking about this right now-" Elva rolled her eyes.

"Yes, we are-"

"Shut up." Bill demanded. "Just shut up."

"You wanna talk to me again like that mother fucker?" Ellie asked sarcastically, raising her voice dangerously high.

"Ellie!" Elva stated, pulling her away from Bill. "We can talk about this once we're safe, okay?"

"Believe it or not, kid, right now ain't the best time to start yellin'." Joel spoke firmly, pointing at the clickers and runners surrounding the roads and houses beside them.

Ellie stayed quiet after that as they walked through a small standalone garage. There wasn't anything in it, but there was a white door that led into another house.

"It's tied on the other side." Elva stated, trying to pry the door open but failing.

"What about going through here?" Ellie asked, pointing towards the small boarded-up hole in the door.

Bill scoffed. "What, the doggy door?"

Ellie simply shrugged, letting Joel take off the plank of wood that was covering the hole in the door. "Be very careful." He stated.

"Of course." She smiled, climbing through.

"Maybe you should've given her a gun." Bill said once Ellie was through to the other side. Elva tightly smiled. It wasn't the best idea. It wasn't like she couldn't hold her aim, but if Ellie got a little _too_ comfortable shooting things, Elva was sure that she'd start shooting whatever she could, which could get everyone in danger.

Joel simply scoffed at Bill's remark.

Ellie opened the door, waving everyone outside. "There's more of those clicker things inside the house." She whispered.

"Oh, shit." Elva exclaimed, cocking her pistol and quickly reloading it. She wanted to save the small amount of shotgun ammo she had for if something else came up. Something big, perhaps.

"They ain't seen us yet." Joel spoke, crouching down behind one of the fences to the garden. "Just stay down."

Elva crept up behind one of the clickers, stabbing it in the neck with her shiv. Bill did the same with the second one, but instead of shivving it he simply held onto its neck tightly before it went limp to the ground.

Slowly, they walked onto the hardwood flooring of the house, scanning the kitchen for any signs of infected before moving onto the living room, where another clicker stood. Instead of creeping past them, Joel quickly took it down with a swift neck snap.

Elva entered one of the bedrooms, grabbing onto the clicker that was there and toppling it over, crushing it's head with her foot. It wasn't the most graceful way to kill an infected, as blood poured _everywhere_ , but it got the job done.

With clicker blood inching over her pants and boots, Elva snuck back out of the room, grabbing a few supplies from the cabinets pushed against the walls on her way.

She followed Joel and Bill out the other end of the house, Ellie resuming her position behind the others again.

"Alright, c'mon, let's get up." Bill spoke, looking up at a treehouse somebody had made in the fenced off backyard.. "On the RV and over, then we should be clear."

Elva leaped up onto a wooden stool-type thing after Joel, pulling herself up onto the RV Bill had mentioned. She helped Ellie up afterwards.

"Who the hell left this here?" Ellie asked, crossing across a flimsy plank to get into the treehouse. "You got friends in town?"

Bill grunted, jumping down from the treehouse and back into another section of grass and houses. "No. Although, I have some idea who might have come through here." He replied as Joel and Elva jumped down after him. "School's on the other side of this house, let's get inside."

"C'mon, Ellie." Joel spoke, waiting for her to jump down from the treehouse before walking through the sliding doors and into the house.

"Are we good?" Elva raised her voice, looking around and seeing little to no infected around the group of four.

"For now." Bill replied. "Goddamn those things. Nobody's bitten, right?"

"Nope." Ellie responded, biting the inside of her cheeks as she lied. "I'm good."

Elva shook her head, facing Joel as he spoke. "We're all fine." He stated, trying not to give any tells to his lies. "Let's just keep going."

Everyone walked inside the house, splitting their different ways to scan all the different rooms for any supplies they could find before heading towards the school. Elva walked upstairs, brushing the dust off of the railing as she walked.

Joel and Ellie both walked up, the latter pulling Joel over into a side room silently to talk for a bit.

"Hey, you got a second?" She asked, looking at an old diary left on the chest sitting below the window.

"Yeah?"

"I- I just want to say I'm sorry; about Tess." Ellie replied. "That's it. I won't bring it up again." She promised.

"Ellie." Joel spoke. "You don't need to worry about me."

Before they could continue, a large screeching noise was heard from the room next to them, it sounded like a large object scratching against the floor.

Joel looked to Ellie. "We should go check on that."

The young girl nodded, following him into the room that Elva had disappeared in. She looked proud as she dusted off her hands. "Ta-da!" She yelled, showing off a freshly-moved bookcase. It revealed a small opening with a dead body and a few other things in it.

"Gosh, that stinks." Ellie said, pinching her nose and wincing at the rancid scent.

Joel crouched down, matching Elva as they inspected the small opening. It had a few hand-written notes, an empty gun, and some supplies. Elva picked up the note the person who passed away had written, unfolding it in her hands and reading it.

 _'Charlie. I'm so sorry it had to end this way. I'm sorry I ran from you. But you work for the Fireflies now, and they know about my history with FEDRA. So, here I am, hiding from a horde of these stupid fuckers in a hole in my wall. I'm gonna do it. I don't wanna suffer. Remember that one poetry piece you loved?_ 'You're an earthly comfort, yet so divine' _? God. I wish you were here to tell me more about it. -George'_

"What a way to go." Elva exclaimed, putting the note in her backpack before standing up and backing away from the opening. "Missing your one companion."

Joel looked up at her, not being able to read his friend's face. Ellie had already disappeared to find Bill downstairs again.

"Let's make a pact." She smiled, holding out her hand for Joel to shake. "Do you, Joel Miller, swear that we will never die alone?"

Joel let out a deep chuckle. "What are we, five-year-olds getting married in the playground?" He asked playfully, ignoring his heart thumping out of his chest.

"Just answer the question, bozo."

"I do."

Elva smiled, shaking his hand. "Well, there you have it. We promised each other we wouldn't die like this." She spoke, pointing towards the dead body in the wall opening.

They walked back downstairs, meeting up with Bill and Ellie. Bill was standing in the garage, looking at the large door ahead of him when Joel and Elva walked down.

"Gimme a hand with this." The man stated, pointing towards the large garage door. Elva and Joel helped Bill lift it up enough for themselves and Ellie to run through.

Bill peered through the mass of buses, crouching behind the back of one of the cars in the yard. "What'd I tell ya. There's that truck, sticking outta the school right there." He remarked, pointing towards the _Lincoln High School_ sign. "C'mon. There's a bunch of 'em up there, so try not to make a sound."

Elva walked ahead of the group, tackling down one of the runners and snapping its neck, letting it fall into a pool of blood on the concrete.

Joel ran ahead of her, jumping over one of the lines of barbed wire and taking down another infected with ease.

"Got any more of those shivs?" Joel breathed, his voice barely audible through his mass of beard hair.

The woman nodded, passing him one from her pocket. "It's my last one, so be careful, I don't have any more supplies for more."

"Aye, aye, captain."

They continued their way towards the brick school, dodging infected and cars galore. It was truly a wasteland. Joel could tell that some of the runners wobbling around had been infected for a short period of time, they were still coughing and sneezing as if they were still sick.

Bill took out another infected and so did Elva, making good headway through the road of buses and cement blocks.

"Behind you." Joel mouthed. Elva was pressed against one of the school buses, so she immediately grasped her bow and loaded an arrow into it, turning around just in time to shoot it into the stray runner's neck.

Unfortunately, that one arrow wasn't enough, and that one infected started yelling, alerting every other runner and clicker in the area.

"Ellie, run!" Joel yelled. Elva was soon tackled to the ground by the runner that still had her arrow in it's neck. Whist Bill took on whatever was flying at them in the tornado of screams and clicks, Joel shot a few times at the runner that was on Elva, preventing it from biting her.

Joel quickly helped her up, making sure to check for any signs of bites. "You okay?" He asked, letting Elva catch her breath a bit before returning to fighting against the infected again.

"Yeah- run!" She yelled, spotting another runner behind Joel. She quickly placed her bow back in her holder and grabbed her pistol, placing three bullets in the infected's head before watching it collapse to the ground.

"They're coming from everywhere!" Ellie yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear in the area. Luckily, she was hiding behind a cement block with Bill, completely safe as he fired away at any infected trying to get them.

Elva pulled out her shotgun, loading it and shooting it at a horde that had come her and Joel's way. The four runners fell to the floor, completely limp.

"Move!" Joel yelled, lighting a molotov and sending it into another mass of infected. They wailed and cried before burning to death, their bodies scarred to shit.

The group of four looked around before sighing, Bill placing his shotgun back on the side of his backpack. "Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be." He stated sarcastically.

"How do we get inside?" Elva asked. " I mean, they most likely alerted their infected friends that we're here."

"Someone left a ladder on the bus." Ellie pointed out, facing Elva. "Here, get me up there and I'll drop it to you."

Elva nodded, placing her back against the school bus and crouching down, creating a cup-like shape with her hands. Ellie jumped on it, pushing her leg into Elva's hands before crawling onto the roof of the bus.

"Don't get killed up there." Bill spoke.

"Thanks." Ellie remarked sarcastically, dropping down the ladder and letting Bill, Elva, then Joel climb up to her level.

"We're okay." Bill stated in disbelief. "We just need to get to the hood of the truck."

They jumped down from the bus, landing on the concrete once again.

"Shit, you hear that?" Bill asked, the sounds of wailing runners and rapid footsteps flooding their ears. "They're coming, move it, kid!"

"Fuck!" Elva yelled, running alongside Bill and Joel towards the other side of the school, trying not to let the runners get through the fence before they got inside.

"Alright, we're gonna get in quick, we're gonna get the battery, we're gonna get the hell out of here!" Bill stated, the others nodding as he struggled to open the door.

"They're piling over this fence here." Ellie remarked. "It's not gonna hold!"

"The door's locked!" Bill yelled, watching as runners began filing through towards Ellie.

"Run!" Elva yelled, pulling the young girl away from the fenceline and towards the other three. They ran around the corner, Joel immediately spotting three windows that he could probably fit through.

"Go, go, go, you three! Go!" He yelled. Ellie jumped in first, Bill following and Elva taking the rear. Joel didn't even notice the clicker standing dangerously behind him as he crawled in through the window.

The infected jumped on him, leaving Bill to start loading his shotgun and Elva to grab his hands, attempting to pull him in.

"Joel!" Ellie exclaimed, not sure what to do in the moment.

Elva managed to pull him forward, Bill closing the window as he fell onto the ground, completely out of breath.

"That's not gonna hold." Ellie stated, backing up.

Joel breathed deeply in and out as Elva scanned him for bites or any major injuries, of which there were none, thankfully. She helped him up and ran to grab reinforcements, helping Ellie push a large, metal shelving unit in front of the door.

"Please tell me you're done!" Joel yelled, watching as Bill used a crowbar to open up the front of the car.

"It's empty." Bill stated.

"What?" Elva yelled, moving towards the car.

"It's fucking empty!"

Ellie began panicking, desperately yelling for the others. "Guys!"

"Bill, where to?" Joel asked.

"Uh-"

"Bill where?!" He yelled, a little louder.

"Anywhere but here!" The man answered, making a run for it.

Elva grasped onto Ellie, who was pushing the door shut on her own the whole time. "El', we need to get out of here!" She yelled, pulling her forward, Joel running behind them.

★★★★★


	13. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★

**SUICIDE TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER  
**  
ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: HE WAS MY PARTNER  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The four weaved in and out through the different corridors and hallways of the school, trying to navigate around the foreign building to escape the infected.

Elva, Joel and Ellie ran after Bill, making it behind another set of double doors _just_ as the horde broke through their first blockage. "They've broken through!" Joel yelled, making sure that Bill knew.

Everyone ran down the halls, walls covered with dusted and molded lockers. They caught their breath for a moment, trying to stay silent as they spotted a few infected. One at the end of the hall, one to their left, and one up above on a platformed second floor.

The one at the end of the hallway was a clicker, so Joel threw a brick onto the other side of it, letting Elva sneak up behind it and send a shiv through its neck. She had found a few supplies in some empty and open lockers, and it was enough to make a few more small knives.

Joel quickly placed a bottle over one of his guns, maneuvering it to make sure that it would semi-silence the shot. He placed it over the box that he and Ellie were hiding behind and took a few shots out of the runner in front of them.

Elva scrambled back towards them, pulling out her bow and claiming a headshot on the clicker walking on the second floor platform above them. It fell to the ground, blood gushing out of its head as its body went limp.

Due to the commotion, another clicker walked into the area, Bill pointing it out towards Joel as the group snuck towards the staircase in an attempt to get somewhere useful.

They managed to sneak through without a hitch, entering in a science-type classroom just as another clicker walked in. "There's a way through." Bill stated, whispering. "We gotta get past these guys."

Two more infected walked through the classroom, but they were only runners. Elva threw a bottle towards a corner of the room, signalling for Joel to light one of his molotovs he had resting in his backpack. He nodded, and just as the three infected were grouped together, he tossed it over, letting the flames engulf their enemies.

Joel led the group through the hallways once again, ducking behind the wall as he spotted a few runners making their way over. "Looks like there's a path down this hallway." He stated, revolver still in hand.

Elva ran out, making sure to duck underneath a few desks to remain unseen. She placed her back against one of the crooks in the desk across from the others. She pulled out her bow, ready to strike one of the infected.

Joel nodded towards her as the group of runners split off into two groups. One, had two, the other, had one. Elva quickly fired an arrow into the single infected's head, whilst Joel threw one of his nail bombs at the other two. Blood sprayed everywhere, but the group continued into another door.

"Help me open this." Joel spoke, letting Elva and Bill push against the jammed door with him. There was definitely something in the way to get to the gym, they just didn't know what.

Finally, the door gave way for Elva, Bill, Ellie and Joel to push themselves through, finding a large metal mat holder in the door's way. "Shit, there's more on the way." Bill stated, watching as Joel pushed the mat holder back against the door to create a barricade.

They took a quick moment to catch their breaths. "This isn't gonna hold them for too long." Elva stated, wiping the blood off of her cheeks and forehead.

A large crashing came from the equipment room. "That doesn't sound good." Joel said, the door opening. A larger infected appeared, warts and bubbling cast all over its body. It was horrifying, to say the least.

"What the fuck is that?" Ellie asked.

"It's a bloater!" Elva yelled in response, ducking down underneath a few pieces of leftover equipment.

"A what?" The young girl asked again.

"Ellie, take cover!" Joel replied, narrowly avoiding one of the bloater's acid bombs. "We got this!"

Elva, Bill and Joel began throwing anything they could at the bloater, molotovs, bombs, bullets, pipes, whatever they could find.

One of the acid bombs just grazed Elva's arm, causing her to yell out in pain as some of her skin began to peel back and bubble. "Fuck!"

"You okay?!" Joel asked, looking over his shoulder at his friend as he shot at the infected's head with his shotgun.

"Fine!" Elva lied, ignoring the acid burning into her skin as she fought off a few stray runners that had made their way through the open door that the bloater had come through. Her teeth were grit in pain, but she continued fighting, trying to numb out the pain as her arm began to scar.

Finally, the grotesque, charred body of the bloater fell to the ground at Bill's final shot. It writhed against the wooden tile before falling limp.

"Aw, geez..." Ellie trailed. "What was up with that big guy."

"He's been infected for a long time." Joel replied. "We call 'em bloaters."

"Bloater... Okay, got it."

Bill sighed. "I hate to interrupt your little biology lesson, but can we get the fuck outta here? Please?" He asked.

"Let's just fucking go." Elva swore, trying not to touch her charred arm in fear of spreading any leftover acid to her other hand. She didn't want to leave it for too long, or else the acid that was still there would burn through the rest of her skin, but she knew she didn't have the supplies to cater to it.

"Let's get on top of these bleachers." Bill stated, pointing at the folded-up seats once used for watching school sports games. "Gimme a boost, Joel."

He nodded, leaning down and pushing Bill's foot up with his hands, doing the same for Elva and Ellie afterwards.

"Holy shit, is your arm okay?" Ellie asked, finally noticing the rapid bubbling on Elva's skin.

"It's fine." The woman lied. "Nothing a little alcohol won't fix."

"Hey, you're not fuckin' bit are ya'?" Bill asked, inspecting Elva's arm.

"It's just a little acid."

"What the- Joel, behind ya'!" Bill yelled, watching as runners began to file through the broken window above the _Lincoln Highschool_ sign.

"Son of a bitch!" Joel yelled, shooting the infected as best as he could.

"Oh, I fucking hate those things!" Ellie yelled, the older man finishing off the rest.

Elva held her good hand down for Joel, pulling him up. "Let's go."

They began running across the bleachers, jumping out of the overgrown and broken window, hopefully they were going towards safety. Joel jumped down the platform they landed on first, Ellie, Bill, and Elva following shortly behind.

"This way!" Bill yelled, leading the group through a broken part of the school fencing. The sun set into a beautiful pink colour as they ran from the horde of wailing from runners.

"Ladder!" Elva breathed, her body in too much pain to comprehend words.

"Keep going!" Joel yelled, taking down a runner in the swampy water as Ellie made her way up the ladder after Bill. "I'm right behind you!"

As Joel made his way across the fence, Bill used a house rake to push it back down, preventing any of the runners to come back up towards them. "Inside the house, now!"

The rest of the group obliged, walking in through the sliding doors and into a small dining room-type area. "Well, that went well." Ellie spoke sarcastically, only for Joel to send her an unimpressed and anxious glare. "Okay- uh, I'll go check out this side of the house." She stated, walking away from the adults.

"Bill, what the fuck happened?" Elva asked, holding onto her arm.

"Somebody had the same idea." Bill replied. "They stole my shit."

Joel rolled his eyes angrily. "What the hell is plan B?"

"You ought to be thankful you're still drawing breath!" Bill spoke, fairly irritated. "That was plan A, B, C, all the way to fucking Z!" He yelled, looking in between the two others. "And furthermore, tell Tess that she can take this job-"

"Don't." Elva stated, seeing the look on Joel's face when Bill mentioned his late friend.

"-She can shove it right up-"

"This has nothing to do with-!" Joel cut himself off, watching as Bill stepped forward and looked behind Elva. She turned around, seeing a man hung up in the living room.

"Do you know him?" Elva asked, stepping forward and standing beside Bill as well.

He sighed, a somber look on his face. "Frank."

"Who the hell's Frank?" Joel asked.

"He was my partner."

Elva stared, empathy written on her face. She had seen her fair share of suicides over the years. People who didn't want to live in the horrifying world after outbreak day, people who didn't want to turn, there were so many who had given their lives.

"He's the only one who would wear a shirt like that." Bill spoke, using his machete to point to the bright, Hawaiian shirt. He cut the rope, the body of Frank falling to the ground. "He's got bites. Here, and..." Bill trailed off, taking a shuddered breath,

Joel looked to Elva, watching her empathetic face before looking back to the ground. "I reckon he didn't want to turn so he..."

"Yeah, I guess not..."

"It's gonna be-" Elva started.

"No." Bill scoffed. "He gets no remorse. Fuck him."

Before they could discuss anymore, the sound of a car engine starting snapped through the silence. Elva stepped into the garage first. Ellie was sat in a truck, revving up the engine and warming it up.

"Look what I found." She giddily spoke. "It's got some juice in it."

Bill walked up to the hood of the car, opening it in shock. "That's my battery. That fuckin' asshole." He slammed the hood shut, walking to Ellie. "Get out."

"Okay, geez." She spoke, stepping out of the car.

"What happened to your arm?" Joel asked, finally noticing Elva cradling it against her ribcage.

"A little acid burn. I'll fix it when we get out of here." She stated, lying about the severity of it. It would've been better if she just doused it in alcohol and left it, but she didn't need it hurting anymore than it was.

"The battery's drained but the cells are alive." Bill stated.

Joel furrowed his eyebrows. "Meaning?"

"Meaning we push it, get it started and the alternator will recharge the battery."

"Is that your guess?" Elva asked.

"Look, you wanted a 'plan B', this is as good as it gets."

Elva thought it out in her head. It could very well work, but if it didn't, god knows how far they'd have to walk to get to Jackson. The Fireflies could be eliminated by then. "Okay, well what're we thinking?" She asked.

Joel turned to Ellie. "I'm thinking she drives and we push."

★★★★★


	14. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: HE AIN'T EVEN HURT  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"Jesus... that's more of my stuff." Bill spoke, digging through a box of things.

Joel looked towards Elva as Bill talked to himself, gazing at her covered arm. "Lemme see it-"

"Joel, I've told you, it's fine-"

The man shook his head, Elva sighing and showing him the large, bubbling acid burn scarred on her arm. Her skin was burnt and charred from it, and there was almost no acid residue left, but she couldn't be too sure.

"What the hell?" Joel asked, inspecting the wound. "Why didn't you let us know?"

Elva sighed. "It _just_ happened Joel, gimme a break-"

"No. You're hurt. We're gonna get it fixed up then we're gonna start pushing that goddamn car." Joel explained, still holding Elva's arm.

"You don't even know how to fix an acid burn." The woman spoke. "We can just wait until we're on the road, there's got to be some medical stuff around here."

Joel sighed. "Look, we'll make a pit stop just out of town. Ellie can take a nap and I'll get your arm fixed up, okay?"

Elva scoffed, feeling the burning sensation reduce to a tingle. "Fine." She stated, coming back to a reality where it wasn't just Joel and her, listening to Bill's endless rambling once again.

"-should probably search the house." He stated. "I'm sure there's more supplies."

Joel nodded. "That's a good idea." He spoke, walking out of the garage with Elva.

"Let me know when you're ready to finish this thing!" Bill yelled.

"We'll give you a shout." Elva replied, splitting off from Joel and walking towards the other end of the house. She entered a bedroom, grabbing a few weapon parts and a stray medical kit, spotting a small letter on one of the desks.

Joel walked in just as she finished reading it, noticing her slightly shaking hands and her breath staggering. "Hey, hey, what's up?"

"God, read this." She spoke, handing Joel the letter she had read.

_'Well, Bill, I doubt you'd ever find this note cause you were too scared to ever make it to this part of town. But, if for some reason you did, I want you to know I hated your guts. I grew tired of this shitty town and your set-in-your-ways attitude. I wanted more from life than this and you could never get that. And that stupid battery you kept moaning about? I got it. But I guess you were right. Trying to leave this town will kill me. Still better than spending another day with you. Good luck, -Frank.'_

"Jesus..." Joel exclaimed, rubbing his fingers over the parchment.

"Either Bill's worse than we thought, or this Frank guy was a fuckin' prick." Elva stated, grabbing a small granola bar off of the desk. "I mean, leaving like that? That's pretty fuckin' mean."

Joel nodded. "I guess they just spent too much time together."

Elva smiled softly at the man, walking back into the living room and into the garage again, talking quickly to Ellie, Joel stepping beside her.

"Are you gonna be okay with this?" The older woman asked, leaning her hands on the open window.

Ellie sighed, wiping her hands on her jeans. "Yeah, not a problem."

"You're doin' a good job." Joel stated awkwardly, trying to find the right words. "I figured you should know that." He explained.

"I won't let you two down with this." Ellie replied, looking hopefully towards the two people she looked up to the most. Well, besides Marlene.

Joel turned over to Bill as Ellie and Elva continued talking, pulling the note from Frank out of his pocket and handing it to the older man.

"Bill, I found this in there and I- I figured you should have it." He spoke, watching as the man took it and read it to himself.

"That's how you feel." Bill stated, scoffing and placing the note in his pocket. "Well, fuck you too, Frank. Fuckin' idiot." He muttered.

Elva finished talking to Ellie, ruffling up the girl's hair a bit before turning back towards Joel. "You ready to go?" She asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." He replied. "Bill, let's do this."

The older man opened the garage door, Elva and Joel positioning themselves at the back of the truck.

"Alright, put 'er in first." Bill stated to Ellie.

"Already did it." She responded.

"Just keep your foot on the clutch and when we get to roll-"

"I know how to pop a clutch."

Bill laughed in disbelief. "How the hell do-? Y'know what, I don't care." He scoffed, joining Joel and Elva behind the truck. "Just don't fuck it up!"

"Ellie, get ready!" Elva yelled as they began pushing the truck down the sloped driveway.

"Now!" Joel yelled. "Now, hit it. Hit it!"

The engine began stirring to life, but it only made it to the broken road before dying once again. Elva sighed, cracking her knuckles before getting back into position.

"Perfect!" Bill yelled sarcastically. "Hey- good job, kid."

"Not helping." Elva grit.

"Ellie! We're gonna give it another go." Joel yelled. "Stay focused!"

They continued pushing the truck down the road, grunting in between each breath they took. "Just keep turning right!" Bill exclaimed. "Let's get to the hill at the end of the street."

"To your left!" Ellie yelled. Elva and Joel glanced up, spotting infected filing out of the houses and backyards they hadn't checked.

"Oh, shit!" Elva swore, grabbing a lone brick from the street and slamming it into one of the runner's heads, completely decapitating it. One of the infected grabbed her burnt arm, causing her to hiss in pain before taking it out with a shiv.

Joel took out a clicker with his shotgun, trying not to let it get too close. "Alright, we good?" He asked, earning a nod from Elva and Bill along with a thumbs-up from Ellie.

"Back to the truck." Bill exclaimed.

The adults got in position again, using all of their strength to roll the truck down the cement hill. Another group of infected ran towards them, the three immediately running towards the horde and taking them down.

Elva took out one with a stray baseball bat she had found in one of the front yards, completely tearing off the runner's arm before slamming the bat into its head. She was immediately tackled by a clicker behind her, but Bill quickly sliced its head off with his machete.

"Thanks." She breathed, standing up and pulling out her shotgun. She shot what was left of the clickers.

Joel scanned the area, clearing the place of any infected. "C'mon, back to the truck!" He yelled. "We don't have much time."

"You three have really fucked my day up." Bill stated, pushing the vehicle.

"Trust me, you've done the same for us." Elva retaliated, only to hear a mass amount of clicking noises coming from the left. She sighed, taking out her pistol and shooting a few runners down onto the ground.

Joel tackled a clicker, shivving it right in the middle of its neck. Blood squirted over his face and neck, but honestly, he was used to having blood cover him.

Bill took out the remaining clicker, bashing its skull with a stray brick. Joel, Bill and Elva ran back to the truck, pushing it with everything they could to avoid another wave of infected if possible.

"Ellie, get ready!" Elva yelled. "Start it up!"

The lights flickered on, finally working. "Hear that sound?" Joel asked, smiling lightly as Ellie stopped the truck at the end of the hill.

"Yeah, well that means the infected hear it too." He remarked.

"Well, then let's get in the fucking truck!" Elva yelled, jumping into the back of the truck alongside Joel and Bill, speeding out of Lincoln.

★★★★★

Dusk soon appeared over the sky, and Bill signaled at Ellie to stop the truck. "Alright, this'll do!" He yelled as Elva finished patching up her arm. She had just doused it in alcohol and wrapped a bandage around it, but it'd do.

"Just keep it running, alright?" Joel asked, Ellie giving him a thumbs-up in response. The adults stepped out of the back of the truck, stretching their legs and walking across the concrete road.

Bill sighed. "That girl nearly got us killed."

"She held her own back there, that's the best we could've asked for." Elva replied, rolling her ankles to try and loosen her stiff muscles.

The older man scoffed, walking away from the truck. "You two ain't gonna make it." He remarked. "Oh- here." He spoke, handing Elva a jerry can. "You'd be amazed at how many cars still got gas in 'em."

Elva smiled. "Appreciate it."

"Look, Bill..." Joel started. "About your buddy back there... That's a tough deal, and I'm..." He paused, trying to find the right words.

"We square?"

Joel nodded. "We're square."

"Then get the fuck out of my town." Bill demanded, looking from Elva to Joel shortly before walking away from the group.

★★★★★

Thunder boomed in the distance as Ellie, Elva and Joel drove through the city. Joel droved, momentarily looking in the back seat at the fourteen year old girl. Elva sat in the passenger side, fixing up her arm to the best of her ability with the supplies they had.

"Your arm doin' okay?" Joel whispered, doing his best not to wake Ellie.

Elva nodded. "Yeah, it'll be okay." She smiled.

"Oh, man!" Ellie exclaimed.

"What happened to sleeping?" Elva asked, turning around and facing the wide-awake young girl. She held a comic book in her hand, sitting up and leaning forward.

"Okay, I know it doesn't look like it, but this here is not a bad read." She stated, pointing to the cover of _Savage Starlight._ "Only one problem. Right there." Ellie spoke, pointing to the last page. "'To be continued'!" She groaned. "I hate cliffhangers."

Elva chuckled. "Yeah, yeah they do."

"Hey, where did you get that?" Joel asked.

"Uh-" Ellie spoke nervously. "Back at Bill's. I mean- all this stuff was just lying there." She exclaimed, shrugging.

Joel sighed, ignoring Elva snickering quietly beside him. "What else did you get?"

Ellie rummaged through her backpack, pulling out a cassette tape. "Here, does this make you two all nostalgic?" She asked, handing it to Elva.

"Holy shit. Hank Williams." Elva smiled. "God, my dad used to be obsessed with his music." She exclaimed, placing it into the truck player.

 _I'll Never Get out of This World Alive_ began to play, Joel laughing. "That is a winner."

Elva smiled, humming softly to the tune and the melody.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Ellie spoke, looking in the backpack again. "I'm sure your friend will be missing _this_ tonight." She stated, pulling out a magazine. Not really paying attention, Joel hummed in approval. "Light on the reading, but it's got some interesting photos."

Elva turned around, spotting an adult magazine in her hands. "Ellie- that isn't for kids!"

Joel looked in the rearview mirror at that, eyes widening as he noticed what kind of book she held. "Woah!" Ellie exclaimed. "How the hell would he even walk around with that thing?"

"Get rid of that!" Elva demanded, trying to grab the magazine out of the young girl's hands. "Throw it out the window or something!"

"Hold your horses." Ellie smirked. "I wanna see what all the fuss is about." She flipped through a few different pages, stopping between one. "Why are these all stuck together?" She asked.

Both Elva and Joel's faces went bright red, flush with embarrassment. They tried to find the right words, only to be met with Ellie's amused chuckling.

"I'm just fucking with you guys." She snickered, throwing the magazine out into the rain and thunder. "Bye-bye, dude!"

★★★★★

"You know what?" Ellie spoke, leaning forward in between the two front seats. "This isn't that bad." She remarked, reaching forward and turning up the music.

"Ellie, why don't you try to get some sleep?" Elva asked, her legs pushed up against her chest as she sat against the door. "It's been a long day."

"Pft." Ellie scoffed, sitting back against the window and looking out at the rain. "I'm not even tired." She stated.

★★★★★

 _Alone and Forsaken_ was playing, waking Ellie up from her sleep. Joel and Elva were still silent, letting the sun shine into their eyes as they reached a cross section.

"Oh, no." Joel spoke, slowing the truck down. One of the routes was completely blocked by old traffic, the other wasn't. "Well, perfect."

"Is that it?" Elva asked.

Joel shook his head. "Now what?" Ellie asked, yawning.

"Screw it." He exclaimed, turning onto the empty road and continuing to drive.

★★★★★

The city passed by them, seemingly endless as they drove for a few more hours along the road. Suddenly, a stray man ran in front of them, causing Joel to slam on the brakes.

"Please, help!" He yelled.

Elva looked at him. "Joel, step on it."

"I'm tryin'-!"

"Step on it!" She yelled, the truck lurching forward as he slammed on the gas.

"What about the guy?" Ellie asked in confusion, clicking her seatbelt into place.

"Oh, he ain't even hurt." Joel answered. The man frowned, pulling out his handgun and making a few shots at the group. A few others jumped out from behind cars as the truck maneuvered its way through the roadblock.

A brick hit the passenger window, Elva immediately ducking down and missing the broken glass.

A large bus flew down the slope across from them, slamming into the truck and rendering the group unconscious.

★★★★★


	15. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: I FEEL SICK  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The truck ended up crashing into a storefront, Joel and Elva both groaning in pain as they unbuckled their seatbelts and made their attempt to escape the situation. Ellie stirred, a few chunks of glass lodged into her shirt.

"I'm okay." She stated. "I'm okay."

"Then get out quick." Joel replied. Elva's door opened suddenly, one of the hunters that had crashed into them grabbing onto her legs.

"Get off of me!" She yelled, kicking at the man who had grabbed her. She grasped the bag left on the floor of the passenger seat, trying to grab a shiv.

Joel pulled her shoulders back, trying to keep her in the middle of the car. Elva grabbed her shiv, stabbing it into the hunter's neck. Another grabbed Ellie, and another ran up behind Joel, slamming his head into the console of the truck a few times.

Elva grabbed her gun, running out of the vehicle and chasing after the man who held Ellie. "Fuck you man!" She yelled. The man turned around, ready to fight. That gave enough time for Ellie to slide out from his grip, letting Elva shoot the man twice in the chest.

"Joel!" Elva yelled, running back towards the man. His head was being held right against a sharp piece of broken glass. Another hunter came up behind her, wrapping his arms around the woman's neck. She quickly used her last shiv and stabbed him in the stomach, turning back around and snapping the hunter's neck.

Seeing that Joel had turned the tables and stabbed the hunter with the piece of glass, Elva quickly turned around and faced Ellie. "Grab the bags!" She yelled. Ellie nodded, running back to the truck and digging through the back.

"What is wrong with these guys?" The young girl asked, grabbing everyone's bags and hoisting her own over her shoulders again.

"Catch your breath." Joel stated. "We're leaving."

"Okay-"

"Watch out!" Elva yelled, pulling Joel down just in time for another hunter to begin shooting at the truck, breaking another window.

Joel swore, pulling out his own gun. "Stay down!"

A few more shots were fired as the small group hid behind metal shelving units, reloading their pistols before poking their heads out.

Elva took down a few with clean headshots, Joel engaging in a full on fist-fight with the remaining two. Ellie stayed behind, completely unable to do anything with her lack of weaponry.

Finally, all of the hunters laid limp on the tiled shop floor. Leaving Elva, Ellie, and Joel to pick up the remains of what they had. Ammo, guns and supplies were left on their bodies, thankfully, and they grabbed what they could.

A few stragglers walked in. Joel slammed one's head into the wall, completely ripping his face off. The other one was taken care of by Elva, she slammed the hunter into the ground and crushed his face with her foot.

"Alright, I think that's the last of them." Joel exclaimed.

"You okay?" Elva asked, standing up fully and looking over to where Ellie had been hiding. The young girl shrugged, stretching.

"Yeah, I guess so." She answered. "Are you?"

"Don't worry about me. Let's just get the hell out of here." Elva spoke.

Joel nodded, gazing around the room. "You know the drill, look around, see if there's anything we can use." He stated.

"Roger that." Elva winked, grabbing a few almost-empty bottles of alcohol and some stray bandages left scattered on the shelves of the store.

Joel could barely find anything, the most useful thing he had scavenged being an old pair of scissors. He figured Elva could use them for a shiv or two, if anything.

The group made it across the street, looking at the large roadblock created by the bus trap. "Well, we sure as hell ain't goin' back this way." Joel muttered to himself, grabbing a first aid kit that was lying in one of the buildings. It was missing a few essentials, but it would help.

"Hey!" Ellie exclaimed, causing both of the other adults to turn towards her. "Maybe we can go through here." She stated, standing in front of a closed garage door.

Joel grunted, pulling up the door and letting Ellie pass through. "Alright, go. See if you can get it propped open with somethin'."

"Um- there's some pretty gnarly stuff in here..." She spoke.

"Ellie!" Elva yelled.

"Right." Shuffling came from the other end, and the young girl pulled the chain up on the other end _just_ enough for both of the others to get through. "Okay, go!" She groaned.

Elva and Joel ran through, the garage door slamming behind them as they stood up on the other side.

"Look." Ellie remarked. Surrounding them was a storage-type room, filled with body parts piled on shelving units and bodies tied to metal tables.

"Fucking hunters." Joel swore.

"This could've been us." Elva whispered, looking at the extremely malnourished dead body laying on one of the tables.

"Man, that is a lot of people that didn't make it." Ellie remarked.

Joel sighed. "I knew I should've turned the damn truck around."

"We lived." Ellie replied.

"Barely."

"We lived, Joel." Elva stated firmly, grabbing a sugar bomb from one of the shelves. They tried to avoid looking at the massacre as they looked for supplies.

The group made their way through a stairwell, Ellie immediately becoming curious as something important crossed her mind. "Joel?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know?" She asked.

"Know what?"

"About the ambush."

"I've been on both sides."

"Oh." Ellie spoke, walking behind Elva and Joel through another door and into a camp-type room. "So, you kill a lot of innocent people?"

Joel sighed, looking to Elva for help as an answer, but she simply shrugged. She only knew what he did before she disappeared, not what he did after.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ellie referred to the silence flowing through the group.

"Take it however you want."

Elva leant down, picking up a note left by some of the hunters, presumably. She didn't want to read it at first, since it was an invasion of privacy, but they _did_ try to kill her, Joel, and Ellie, so she unfolded the slip of paper.

_'Apparently whoever's running the East side of the group is turning into a nutjob. I heard she started drinking blood. Blood. All we do is cut 'em up, at least we don't do that shit. Anyway, Aurora, if you're reading this, I'm planning to get out of this sick group as fast as I can. That stupid guy that came around a few years ago, what was his name, Tom? Thomas? I don't know, but he really fucking wisened me up. I need to go, now. I'm sorry, but if you know what you're doing, you'll follow me. -Coraline'_

Below the note, laying in the sleeping bag, was a dead body. Elva assumed that it was Coraline, and that whoever 'Aurora' was didn't want them to escape. The body's neck was slit, and the blood had dried out into the mattress. It was not the best sight to see.

"I guess this is where they sleep." Elva observed.

"Slept." Ellie corrected, making the older woman scoff a bit in amusement before turning back to the letter. They mentioned a man named Tom, or Thomas, maybe Tommy had made his way through?

"Hey, Joel, take a look at this." She spoke, handing the note to the man. He read it, eyebrows furrowing. "You think Tommy would have come here?"

Joel shrugged. "God knows. Maybe." Elva smiled softly at the hint of hope in Joel's voice before taking the note back, putting it in her backpack before continuing to make her way through the building.

They walked into another storage room, Joel placing his guns on one of the workbenches as Elva grabbed some stray arrows she could use.

The man managed to attach a scope to one of his shorter guns before leaving the room, joining back with the others in their attempt to find a way out.

"Bingo." Elva smiled, pushing a door open to the outside. Right as they walked out onto the fresh dirt, they spotted a large pile of rotting bodies, flies surrounding the mass.

"Oh, I don't think these guys were infected." Ellie remarked.

"It don't matter." Joel replied.

Elva sighed. "Let's just keep moving, 'kay?"

Ellie nodded, walking up a set of metal stairs after the other two. Joel realized then that their group had dropped back down to only three people. It seemed like having anymore was too good for their odds.

The man pointed over to a large yellow structure separating the city from the direct freeway towards Jackson. "There's the bridge, that's our way out of here." He stated, looking back down only for the young girl to be ahead of him.

"Ellie! Slow down!" Elva stated, jumping down the metal staircase and landing on the platform, Joel doing the same.

"What?" Ellie replied. "I'm right here."

"How 'bout you let us go first?" Joel asked. "And keep your voice down."

Ellie hummed in agreement, the other two adults following her down a hole in the fencing. _How long can they keep us safe?_ was written in graffiti on one of the concrete walls.

"These guys really hated FEDRA, huh?" Ellie remarked, brushing her fingertips over the black ink. She had been a part of the organization's boarding school for most of her life, but she really never knew the extent of the hatred towards it.

Elva sighed. "Everyone did. Some more than others." She stated.

A small whistling sound came from Ellie after a few beats of silence. "I'm whistling!" She spoke excitedly, a large smile on her face.

"Oh, good." Joel replied, rolling his eyes. "Something else you can annoy us with."

"It's awesome!"

They walked through an old bus, immediately being met with a mutilated corpse sitting on one of the seats. As usual, the smell was rancid, but Joel, Ellie, and Elva had gotten used to it.

Elva picked up a stray comic book on the floor of the bus. It was called _Termination Shock._ Honestly, she was never a big fan of comic books as a kid, but there weren't that many sold in the small town she grew up in.

"Hey, Ellie." She spoke, gaining the younger girl's attention as she hopped out of the bus. "I found one of those comics that you like."

"Woah!" Ellie exclaimed, looking at the cover and the back. "This is so cool!"

Joel smiled at the two as the group made their way through the decimated cars. He was happy that everyone was getting along just fine, because if they didn't, well, it would be a _long_ journey.

"What happened here?" The fourteen year old asked, gazing at a corpse that had been killed just outside of one of the cars. "Your fellow hunters do this?" She looked to Joel.

"Cute." He replied. "And no, my money's on the military"

"Why would they mow down all these people?" Ellie asked.

"They can't let everyone in." Elva answered.

"So they killed them?"

"Dead people don't get infected." Joel stated, quoting FEDRA itself. "You sacrifice the few to save the many."

"It's kinda shitty." Ellie replied.

Elva sighed. "Yeah."

They reached a barricade-type border, immediately ducking behind a large brown van as gunshots sounded from a ways away.

"What was that?" Ellie asked, panicked.

"I don't know." Joel answered.

Elva dragged the young girl's arm down, taking cover. "Get down."

One of the hunters began talking, a group of them making their way over a crashed bus as their bridge. "Where'd you learn to shoot?" One asked.

"Man, screw you." Another responded.

"You had an entire flock and hit nothing."

"I'm about to hit you."

"Wow. Yeah, you're really upset." The first one laughed. "Well, if you want some lessons, I'm more than willing to help you out."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Where the hell are those guys?" A third hunter asked. "They're supposed to be here."

"They're on the highway shift." The first replied. "Wouldn't be surprised if they caught another batch of tourists." He chuckled.

"Spot's a goldmine." The last one stated. "Lucky bastards."

"See if there's anything you can forage while we wait for them."

"Ain't nothing here!" Another yelled. "Let's keep going."

Two of the hunters began walking dangerously close to the group's hiding spot, letting Joel take down the other one silently in the grass. He lowered his body down behind a cement block and made his way back to Ellie and Elva.

Elva jumped out at one as the two hunters separated, snapping his neck and placing him down onto the ground.

Joel did the same with the other, instead choking him until he drew his last breath.

"Hey, we can climb the bus right here." Ellie stated, pointing towards the place where the hunters had come from. Joel jumped up first, followed by Elva and Ellie.

They made it to the other side of the barrier, more and more graffiti presenting itself on the concrete walls. "Okay, we need to lighten the mood. Ready?" Ellie asked.

"For what?" Elva smirked.

"'It doesn't matter how much you push the envelope, it'' still be stationary.'"

"What is that?" Joel asked.

"A joke book!" Ellie smiled. " _No Pun Intended: Volume Too by Will Livingston_." A large grin was plastered on the young girl's face in that moment. "'What did the Confederate soldiers use to eat off of? Civil ware.'"

Joel sighed dejectedly, knowing that Ellie was not going to stop anytime soon. Elva snickered. "Embrace it, old man."

"I'm only four months older than you, lady."

Ellie continued on reading from the book. "'What did they use to drink with? Cups. Dixie cups.' 'I walked into my sister's room and tripped on a bra. It was a booby-trap.' 'A book just fell on my head, I only have myself to blame.' Oh wait, I said it wrong." Ellie spoke, puzzled. "Hold on, let me read it again; 'A book just fell on my head, I only have my shelf to blame.' Eh, ruined it. 'What is the leading cause of divorce in long-term marriages? A stalemate.'"

"That one's awful." Joel remarked.

"You're awful." Ellie rebutted.

"Do you even understand what that means?" Elva asked, chuckling.

"Nope. Doesn't matter." She replied. "Alright, I'm done... for now."

The group walked through a maze of metal walls, Elva ducking down as voices echoed through the concrete barriers. "I hear hunters." She stated, dragging both Joel and Ellie down to the ground with her.

"Yeah, me too." Joel replied. "Let's just try to keep it down while we're going through this area." He spoke in a whisper.

"Oh, I'm so fucking tired." A hunter's voice called. "We were up all night chasing this tourist." He remarked, seemingly walking closer to the group.

"Oh, you were a part of that?" Another asked. "I heard about this."

"Tommy?" Joel mouthed to Elva. She shrugged, stepping closer to the alleyway where the hunters were heard from.

"Yeah, this one chick, she would just not give up." The first hunter spoke, ruining Joel's theory of Tommy walking through. "I've never seen anyone with so much fuckin' energy. It took a couple of minutes to snuff everyone else and fucking five hours to hunt her ass down." He described.

A look of realization plastered itself onto Elva's face. "Marlene." She mouthed to Joel, looking over to Ellie and doing the same.

"Jesus. Sometimes you gotta earn your keep." The other hunter replied.

"Yeah, I guess. We were about to give up when she started shooting at us. Stupid, she could have gotten away. I had two other guys keep her busy. I took out my rifle , lined up her little head in the crosshairs, and pow. That was that."

Joel turned to Elva. "I sure hope that's not Marlene." He whispered.

"Damn." The second hunter sighed. "Maybe you should have kept her. Y'know, made her one of us." He proposed.

"No, no way. That girl- she would've killed us all in our sleep."

The group of smugglers made their way through the alleyway and into a dark building, more hunters arriving at the scene. Ellie, Joel, and Elva hid behind one of the windows, eavesdropping on another two people on the other end.

"Bossman says we're getting big enough to expand."

"New head honcho, same bullshit talk."

"I don't know, now that we have enough people watching all the exits, he says we can set up a larger perimeter."

"What's that really gonna give us?"

"I don't know, maybe we find some more gas, get some more generators going. I'd really like to restore one of those old projectors, maybe watch movies or something."

"That shit ain't happening." One of the hunters replied pessimistically. "I've heard that expansion talk way too many times, and everytime we try, it ends up with a bunch of us getting killed."

"How do you know? Maybe things'll be different now."

"Keep your expectations in check, youngun. You'll live longer."

Their conversation ended, and the smuggler group leaped out of the broken windows to kill the hunters. Joel took the left side, using the butt end of his gun to knock out one. Elva took a hold of the other one, borrowing Ellie's tactical knife shortly in order to slit the throat of the other hunter.

The group then realized they were in a bookstore, and both Ellie and Elva looked around the old, dusted shelves for anything of use.

"That was too damn close- what are you two doing?" Joel asked.

"Did you ever read _Good Dog_ by Dan Gemeinhart?" The older woman smiled, pulling the book mentioned out of one of the shelves. She dusted it off, running her fingers over the golden title.

"Wait, that was the one about the dead dog, right?"

Elva scoffed. "Wow, no need to be so blunt about it." She teased. "It was one of my favourite books as a kid." She smiled, unzipping her backpack and placing the old, dusty book in one of the front pockets.

Joel smiled and grabbed himself a book off of the shelf, pocketing one himself as Ellie began talking from the other end of the store. "'The edge of the universe and back. Endure and survive.'" She stated.

"Excuse me?" Joel asked.

" _Savage Starlight._ That comic I've been reading?" Ellie smiled. "It's what the hero says after a big battle." She responded.

Elva smirked. "'Endure and survive', huh?"

"Yeah." Ellie replied. "Look at all these books. I wish I had more room in my backpack."

"Here." The older woman spoke, opening up her roomy backpack and letting the younger girl place a few books in.

"So, you're a reader?" Joel asked.

"When I'm not running away from hunters or infected? Yeah, I read all the time." Ellie laughed, zipping up Elva's backpack after filling it with books and handing it back to the woman.

They snuck up another flight of stairs, entering the second floor of the bookstore. You could see _everything_ downstairs, giving the group of smugglers an advantage over anyone who decided to make their way back into the store.

Not knowing that there was a hunter on the other side of the door, Joel walked through, only to be pushed to the wooden floor in a grunt.

Elva quickly passed Ellie, sneaking around the man who held Joel with a knife to his neck. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, snapping it before he got a chance to slit Joel's throat.

"You okay?" The woman asked, helping her friend up.

"Yeah." He grunted in response, keeping low behind the scattered furniture left around. It was clear that he was becoming careless, and he didn't know what was causing his change in state.

Joel managed to shoot another hunter who was standing a ways away from them, and they made it out the back door successfully, continuing their trip onwards towards the highway bridge to Jackson.

As they walked out into the sunlight again, Ellie pulled out her purple book. "Okay, it's time to lighten the mood. 'Bakers trade bread recipes on a _knead_ -to-know basis." She smirked, chuckling a bit. "Knead." She repeated.

"I get it." Joel sighed.

Elva snickered at the young girl's antics as she told another joke. "'A moon rock tastes better than an earthly rock because it's _meteor_.'" She smiled. "Oh, man, that made me hungry."

"God, I could go for anything right now, even a moon rock." Elva exclaimed.

"Same." Ellie replied. "'A backwards poet writes inverse.'"

Joel glanced at the younger girl. "Do you even get that?"

"Of course not!" Ellie laughed. 'I used to be addicted to soap, but I'm clean now.'"

"Alright, I've actually never heard that one." Joel admitted.

"Seriously?" Elva laughed. "What kind of sad-ass life have you been living to never hear about the glorious soap joke?" She asked sarcastically.

Ellie chuckled. "God, he's so uncultured." She whispered to the older woman.

"I heard that." Joel sighed, seeing a large warning sign written on the back of the wall of the bookstore. A mound of corpses were piled on the ground, making Ellie place her joke book back into her backpack and look at them in a confused yet solemn manner.

"Man, you'd gotta be crazy to string up soldiers." The young girl sighed, a grimace plastered on her face.

"You get people desperate enough, they'll do just about anything." Joel replied.

"And the people that rose up..." Ellie started. "They're the ones we've been fighting here?" She asked.

"That'd be my bet." The older man answered.

Elva looked at the graffitied wall as she wiped some stray blood off of her pants. _Another three soldiers dead- what's it going to take?_ It said. "They weren't bad at first, but every resistance gets stir-crazy if you leave 'em long enough." She stated.

Joel nodded. "That's what happens to most of 'em, anyway."

The group walked up another metal staircase in silence, jumping down onto a large van in one of the breaks in the railing.

"Watch yourself on these drops!" Joel yelled, watching as Elva helped Ellie down with a grunt. He led the others through an alleyway and into another road, spotting a large group of hunters walking across a bridge made by a bus. "Get down, there's more of 'em."

They hid behind an old taxi cab, watching and listening into the hunter's conversations to the best of their extent.

"Careful with that plank." One advised, watching as they dropped it down onto the top of the bus. His voice was muffled due to the distance of the group, but his words were clearer as he walked across the bus.

"Let's get outta here." The other spoke, walking into a strange building alongside the first hunter. As they disappeared, Ellie, Joel, and Elva released themselves from their crouched position, stretching out whatever they could.

Elva looked around quickly. "I don't think they saw us." She stated, still prepared for another ambush.

"Whew." Ellie sighed in relief. "There's our bridge, we're a little closer I think." She pointed, the highway glowing behind the beautiful blue sky.

"Let's keep at it, then." Joel smirked, walking along the sidewalk.

They reached an old clothes store, a picture of a woman wearing a pink dress still sitting in one of the windows. Elva remembered all of the old models who would make her feel sick at how thin they were forced to be. She guessed that one good thing about the outbreak was that nobody could hurt themselves eating too little on purpose.

"That girl is so skinny." Ellie remarked, walking up beside Elva with Joel. "I thought you had plenty of food in your time." She spoke.

"We did. Some just chose not to eat it." Joel replied.

"Why the hell not?"

"For looks, mainly." Elva sighed.

Ellie scoffed in response, kicking the stones at her feet. "That's stupid."

The three began making their way towards the bridge, trudging through ankle-deep water. A metal cargo bin and the large bus were pushed to each side, but they were separated in the middle. Joel's plan was to make his way inside and go from building to building, but he needed to find a way in first.

"I can't make that jump." He sighed, diving into the water. Elva did the same, treading it with her hands lightly as she folate atop the murky substance.

"If you guys get me up there, I can move that plank." Ellie proposed.

"Wait here." Elva replied, ducking down into the water and submerging herself fully. They needed to find some sort of palette again to let Ellie up.

Joel's loud voice made her snap her head over to where he was and relieve her head from the water. "Let's see where this goes." He pointed, swimming into the old cargo bin. They entered an old coffee shop on the other side, standing up on an elevated floor level and letting their legs rest.

"God, I miss coffee." Joel exclaimed.

Elva chuckled. "You and me both, man."

The two walked up a large plank and on top of the cargo bin they were inside before, immediately spotting Ellie where they had left her.

"Hey, there's one of those floating raft things again!" She pointed. Sure enough, a wooden palette was floating a small ways away from the tunnel on the other side. "Can we use it?" She asked.

Elva leaped into the water first, being shortly followed by Joel as they swam towards the platform. They both gripped onto it and began pulling it towards Ellie.

"Get down." Joel hissed, ducking his head halfway underwater as a military vehicle passed by. Elva did the same, seeing as the large truck was heavily armoured. Gunshots followed its passing, alongside screaming.

"What the hell?" Elva exclaimed, beginning to push the platform again.

"Oh, this place is bad." Joel replied, helping her get to Ellie.

The young girl jumped on the palette, crouching down to stabilize herself. "What the hell was that all about?" She asked.

"Get on." Joel answered shortly. "We're cuttin' through the hotel."

Elva sighed. "We just need to get out of here as fast as we can. I'm sure it'll be fine, even with- whatever they're doing." She smiled.

"Okay..." Ellie replied, pulling herself up onto the bus.

"Set that plank like they did." Joel stated. The young girl nodded, grabbing the said plank and placing it across the cargo bin and the bus.

The two adults jumped back down into the water and emerged at the coffee shop they were in, leaving back out of the bus once again. This time, they walked across the plank Ellie had set and met up with her on the other side.

"Do you think those hunters are gone?" Ellie asked.

"Well, we're about to find out." Elva replied, jumping up into an old hotel after Joel. It was fancy, it looked like the kind of place B-List celebrities would go to for an evening out. Red carpets, golden wall accents, the whole nine yards.

"It's clear, Ellie!" Joel yelled, letting the young girl jump from the broken window to their level. "Come on down."

"Woah, this is fancy." She exclaimed, awestruck. "Ever stay in a place like this? Before it all went to shit, I mean." Ellie asked.

"No, this is too rich for my blood." Joel scoffed.

"Are you kidding? This was too rich for _everyone's_ blood back then, unless you were a hit singer or something." Elva laughed, looking at the beautiful front reception desk.

"Oh." Ellie replied. "I bet it was nice."

Elva walked behind the front desk, looking for any supplies. The young teenager approached her on the other side, smiling like a kid in a candy store.

"Oh, I'll be checking in for one night and I'd like your finest suite please." Ellie giggled, talking in a very posh accent.

The older woman laughed. "Of course, ma'am, would you like your luggage taken upstairs?" She asked, a British accent masked upon her own voice as well.

"The hell are you two doin'?" Joel asked, looking over to see the two girls pretending to be someone before the outbreak. Their relationship was endearing, to say the least.

"Why yes, you can take my luggage." Ellie nodded.

The two erupted into a fit of laughter, the older man looking at them with a masked grin on his face. "You two are weird." He exclaimed.

The three soon found a ladder to get up the broken staircase, along with a convenience stand with a coffee maker, much to Joel's delight. Elva placed the metal and rickety ladder in a break in the stairs fence line to climb up.

"Come on up." She stated, Joel and Ellie climbing up after her. "Watch your step." She advised the young teenager with caution. The older pre-outbreak ladders weren't too reliable, to say the least.

"I'm bored." Ellie exclaimed at the top of the loft-like platform, pulling out her joke book again and flipping through the pages. "'I tried to catch some fog earlier. I _mist_.' 'Do you know what's not right?'" She asked.

Joel sighed. "Left?"

Elva snickered, truly entertained by her friend's loathing of the jokes. Although, she had to admit, it looked like they were growing on him.

"Yeah. That one's awesome." Ellie smiled. "'What does a pirate say while eating sushi?'"

"What?" Elva asked.

"'Ahoy! Pass me some soy!'" She yelled. "I don't get it." Ellie cleared her throat. "'People are making up apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow'... too soon." She winced, placing the book back in her backpack.

"If only the people making jokes knew what was going to happen." Elva grimaced, remembering how traumatic outbreak day was for everyone.

"There'd probably be no more jokes about it." Ellie sighed.

They cut through another smaller staircase, jumping through a broken window and onto a smaller, overgrown platform.

A voice growled from one of the buildings. "This tourist put up a hell of a fight."

"Oh, shit." Joel whispered, ducking down beneath one of the windows.

"Get down." Elva spoke, pulling Ellie down below the brick wall.

"It took two of us to put 'em down." The hunter continued.

"Wait, how many is that now?" Another asked.

The other hummed in thought. "Five just this week. But hey, I'm not complaining."

"I bet you're not." The other hunter laughed. "Are we done here?"

"We got another floor to check, man."

"Check for what?" He asked. "I ain't seen a clicker in weeks."

"That's 'cause we're thorough, and we're gonna keep being thorough." The hunter sighed. "Now let's wrap this up, alright?"

"Alright, whatever."

Joel, Elva and Ellie made their way to the other wall, only to be met with another pair of hunters walking around on the other side of the window.

"Hey, how 'bout we take a little food break?" One asked.

"Nah, maybe in like an hour or so." The other replied. "We can eat something before heading back to camp." He stated, the sound of a gun reloading flooding the space.

"Sounds good."

"I got some extra dried fruit if you want."

"I'll take you up on that."

On that queue, Joel nodded to Elva, the two jumping in the first window and making their way towards two of the hunters. Joel took down the first guy stealthily while Elva ran ahead and took down the other one.

As Joel pulled the life out of the first hunter, the man made a large grunting noise, alerting the others. "Hey, what the fuck was that?!" One yelled, jogging over to the smuggler's position.

The two adults pulled out their guns, signalling for Ellie to stay down as they emerged themselves from the doorway. The two hunters noticed them, only for Elva to take a shot at one's abdomen and throw a shiv into his neck. Joel took a clean headshot for the other one, shooting him another time in the chest for good measure.

"Is that it?" Joel asked.

"Think so." Elva replied, beckoning Ellie to stand back up.

They walked into a bathroom, two corpses strung into the bathtub. The young teenager grimaced at the sight of the blood staining the shower curtains. It was a sad sight to see, but the people who had been living the outbreak for most of their lives had gotten used to it.

"Guess they took the easy way out..." Ellie trailed.

Joel sighed. "It ain't easy, for many it was better than letting a clicker or hunter do it for 'em." He replied, brandishing an old pipe he had picked up from the loose plumbing system.

"No way is easy. No matter how you die nowadays." Elva spoke, stepping up another flight of stairs. They heard more voices echoing through the walls, putting the whole group on edge again.

A soldier approached their hiding spot, Joel immediately taking him out by snapping his neck. Ellie took a shuddered sigh, quite grossed out by all the killing she was surrounded by.

Another three hunters stood in the hallway, walking up towards the large entryway where Joel, Ellie and Elva hid.

Joel threw a brick to distract them, giving Elva time to draw her bow and place an arrow right through one of the hunter's eyes.

"What the fuck- Tyler?!" One of the hunters yelled, spotting the dead body.

The distress of the hunter gave Elva enough time to shoot him with an arrow as well, Joel wrapping around the hallway and snapping the last one's neck.

After what seemed like an eternity of running up stairs, they reached a block in the road, accompanied by a half-open elevator.

"Let's see where this goes." Joel exclaimed, accepting help from Elva to open the elevator doors. There was a ladder on the other side of the shaft.

They climbed up only to be met with a large drop. It made Ellie's legs tingle, but she wasn't as afraid of heights as she was afraid of water.

"Just in case." Ellie spoke, slamming the trapdoor that led to the elevator back down.

Joel, followed by Elva and Ellie, squeezed through to the other elevator shaft, the large drop below them beginning to seem _much_ scarier.

Elva jumped down onto the top of the elevator, helping Joel down easily as well. Ellie leaped down without a problem. The older man pushed his back against the wall towards an opening, holding his hands out for Ellie to jump on.

"You find us something to climb on." She stated.

"Alright." Ellie replied, boosting herself up onto the higher level.

The lift rope snapped.

"Fuck!" Elva yelled, the wind catching in her throat as she fell down beside Joel. Her back hit the top of the lift, sucking the breath out of her throat as she collapsed into the water below.

"Elva? Joel?" Ellie yelled from above. The latter pushed himself up to the surface of the water, holding onto his chest. The woman did the same with a bit more effort needed, her body still in pain from hitting the lift so hard.

"Are you okay, Ellie?" Elva yelled, ignoring the pain shooting up her spine.

"No! You guys scared the shit outta me!" She spoke. "I'm- I'm gonna climb down there, okay?" The young girl negotiated.

"Stay up there!" Joel replied. "We'll make our way up to you!"

Ellie's sigh echoed through the large elevator shaft. "Don't do anything stupid!"

"We'll try." Elva responded.

Joel turned to her, breathing heavily. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Are you?"

"Never been better." He grunted sarcastically.

They made their way through the flooded area, trying not to let their flashlights rust because of the water. Joel followed Elva through an old staircase, of which was brimmed with corpses.

A large wailing noise came echoing through. "Stalkers." The woman whispered, a panicked look in her eyes. Stalkers were terrifying. They were a mix of runners and clickers, they were people who had been infected for a few months.

"Shit." Joel swore, trying to reduce his noise levels. "Maybe that way." He pointed towards a doorway. Elva nodded, swimming over towards it. As soon as they got to the other side, though, a large chunk of debris fell down and blocked their way.

"Goddamnit." He exclaimed.

"Look." Elva pointed, swimming over to another exit. "Spores." She warned, both her and Joel pulling on their gas masks. A large horde of bats came flying through, the squeaking noises surely attracting some form of infected.

They managed to get onto a platform with no water flooding it. The walls of the hallway they walked through were absolutely covered with infected spores.

The wailing and slight clicking from a stalker nearby altered the two, and they walked into a laundry room. A stalker jumped out of the wall at them, tackling Elva to the ground. Joel dealt with the other one a ways away from her, so she grasped out her gun and shot it a few times before it slumped over top of her.

"God, I hate these things." She sighed, brushing the blood off of her clothes before joining Joel back in the hallway. He had already dealt with one, the lifeless body of an infected strewn across the ground.

Another one came up behind them, Elva immediately prying it off of Joel and slamming it into the nearby wall. She quickly used her knee to completely decimate its head before it got the chance to get back up.

Joel quickly grabbed out his shotgun, killing another stalker that had attempted to run into the room. Luckily, stalkers only took one shot with a good gun.

Elva walked into a small office-type room, well, it looked more like a security office. Old cameras and televisions were placed upon the desks, some had even fallen to the floor. She grabbed a keycard, only for a note to fall down alongside it.

_'The generator's scuffed. I can't get out. Fucking Taylor left me no gas! Also, Sam is dead, some sick cross between a runner and a clicker got him. God, what the fuck am I gonna do, Hunter? If you find this, please, for the love of god, run. The leader of the East side, the blood-drinker? It's not a fucking rumour, Hunter. Get the group and run. -Este'_

She quickly pocketed both the keycard and the note and walked back through the hallway, meeting up again with Joel.

"We need a generator. If we can get some power in this place, we can probably find our way through." Elva stated.

"Well, that's good. 'Cause I found one." Joel replied, leading the way to a red power generator. She grinned, cocking her gun up as he pulled on the wires.

The noise coming from the generator began to attract more and more stalkers, their loud wailing echoing through the whole building.

Joel swore under his breath, grabbing onto Elva's hand and making a break through the ankle-deep water.

"What the fuck!?" The woman yelled as a bloater trudged through one of the doors, her gas mask almost falling down her face as she ran.

They reached a previously locked door. Elva placed the keycard she had picked up into the scanning slot and the door opened, letting both her and Joel through. They reached a long, metal staircase as they took off their gas masks.

"Jesus Christ, that was- something." Elva sighed, catching her breath.

"C'mon, we gotta find Ellie." Joel replied.

The two ended up in a large hotel restaurant kitchen, two hunters shooting down a clicker until it was slouched over one of the counters. Joel and Elva hid behind one of the stoves, trying not to attract any attention.

"I got it." One of the hunters spoke, the clicker completely limp on the ground.

"Nicely done." The other applauded. "You bit?"

The first hunter smirked. "Not today. You?"

"Not today." He replied. "Alright, spread out and make sure we didn't miss any more of these fuckers." They demanded.

Joel ran forward, choking the first hunter to death. Elva pulled out her bow and sniped down the other with a headshot, knocking the life clean out of him.

Two more hunters stood patrolling the other side of the kitchen. Joel took out his silencer and placed it around his pistol, shooting down one of the hunters. Elva killed the other with her bow again, the weapon was truly growing on her.

The male smuggler picked up a stray ladder from the ground, placing it up in a place they could get through to where Ellie was.

"Ladies first." Joel smirked.

Elva scoffed. "Oh, yeah, such a gentleman."

She climbed up, only for a hunter to kick her down into the shallow water below. Joel was already halfway up the ladder, so he was also kicked down, splashing into the water.

The woman's head had hit a sharp piece of concrete, completely rendering her unconscious as her body attempted to breath in the water.

The attacker began holding Joel's head underwater, choking him. The smuggler grit his teeth, pushing the hunter out of the water for a split second. He got a breath of fresh air before being pushed back down.

Joel reached for his gun, only for another hand to take it and shoot his attacker. He gasped for fresh air, the sweet release of nearly drowning taking over his body.

"Man, I shot the hell outta that guy, huh?" Ellie asked, revealing that she was the one who had saved Joel.

"Yeah, you sure did." Joel sighed, spotting Elva still in the water. He picked her up, checking her breathing. _Alive._ He let out a breath of relief as she stayed asleep, her head beginning to swell up from the impact of the concrete.

"I feel sick." Ellie spoke, sitting on one of the crates.

Joel glared at her, grabbing the gun out of her hand. "Why didn't you just hand back like I told you to?" He asked, reloading his gun.

"Well, you're glad I didn't, right?" She asked, looking back at him.

He gazed towards Elva's sleeping body, chuckling a bit. "I'm glad I didn't get my head blown off by a goddamn kid." He sighed.

"You know what? No!" Ellie yelled, immediately standing up. "How about 'Hey Ellie, I know it wasn't easy, but it was either him or me. Thanks for saving my ass.'! You got anything like that for me, Joel?!" She seethed.

"We gotta get going." The man spoke, picking Elva up as she began to stir a bit.

The woman stumbled a bit, groaning and holding her head. She didn't know what had just happened between the two, but she knew that _something_ had happened. Ellie trudged behind them, a disappointed look on her face.

★★★★★


	16. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: YOU'RE WELCOME, JOEL  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The group climbed back up the ladder, Elva noticing a newfound tension between Joel and Ellie, just like the one that was there when they first smuggled her into the outskirts.

"Okay, look." Elva whispered, pulling Joel into a corner. "What the fuck happened?"

Joel sighed. "She almost shot me in the head with a gun, that's what happened." He replied. Elva rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? _Almost_. She _almost_ shot you. She didn't, did she?" The man shook his head, taking a turn to roll his own eyes. "She saved your ass."

"Look, I can't trust the kid-"

"Yes you can." Elva replied. "She's been through much more than you give her credit for." The woman sighed, brushing some of the water off of her cheeks.

The two parted, continuing to walk along the broken and molded hallways.

"We need to get back out and find that bridge." Joel stated, rummaging around in the old washrooms for any supplies.

"Just tell me where to go." Ellie sighed.

"I hate this crap."

Elva snickered in amusement, jumping over an old desk to get to a large ballroom. She had never been in quite a fancy one, herself, but she always imagined marrying a prince and dancing until her feet blistered as a young girl.

The light poured through the boarded up windows, illuminating the stained table cloths. It was a shame, such a beautiful room being used for storage and killing infected. Joel hoped that one day it would get one last dance of some kind.

"Wow, look at that." Ellie whispered, gazing over a large photo booth. It was decked out with a beach scenery, but now it was torn and burnt off.

"That's a backdrop." Joel explained. "People would take their pictures in front of it."

"Yeah, I know what it is." She sighed, a sad look on her face.

Elva held onto the girl's shoulder, grinning up at the stage. "C'mon." Joel watched as they ran up to where an old piano lay, dusting it off and playing it. Of course, it made no sound, but Ellie had fun mimicking old musician's movements.

He wondered if he had been too harsh on the girl. Seeing her perk up for simply imagining playing an instrument was changing his mind. Joel had often forgotten that some kids never got the chance to play something as simple as an instrument, and he needed to remind himself that sometimes people had worse lives than him.

Ellie and Elva walked back down the steps, a beautiful smile plastered on the older woman's face. She was happy that Ellie had gotten a chance to touch the keys of a piano, even if it was just for imagination.

"I wasn't trying to disobey you back there." Ellie revealed, a newfound confidence struck inside of her. "You were taking a really long time and I thought; 'Oh, maybe he's gotten into trouble.'" She spoke.

"It doesn't matter what you thought." Joel replied. "I need you to listen to us."

"I do- it's just that-" Ellie sighed. "Whatever."

Elva patted her on the shoulder, speaking in a lower volume in her ear. "He'll come around, trust me." She winked, standing up and separating herself from the teenager.

After looking at the ballroom one more time, Joel noticed an open door on the landing above, the fence _just_ bent and broken at the perfect area.

"That door looks like a way out." He spoke to Elva. She nodded, looking over to Ellie who was still standing near the photo backdrop. "Hey, you see a way to get up there?" He asked.

"Nope."

Elva glanced over to the piano, pushing it over to another opening in the fence. She breathed out sharply, and made it a bit across before slouching in exhaustion.

"Hey, how 'bout a hand over here?" She asked, Joel walking over to her. The man nodded towards Ellie, beckoning her to help as well.

"You sure you can trust me with that?" Ellie replied.

"Yes. Now c'mon." Joel responded. The whole group began pushing the baby grand piano towards the break in the wall, satisfied as it slammed against the wood.

Elva smiled, still out of breath. "There."

Joel leaped up onto the piano first, then Elva, then Ellie. The gorgeous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling somehow looked even more beautiful from above. Of course, every single pearl and pendant was rusted and some had even fallen off, but it was still an amazing sight to see.

They made their way through the open door and into another dining hall. Another door was open on the other side, light from the outside pouring through. Elva, followed shortly by Joel and Ellie, jumped onto a large piece of metal scaffolding, immediately ducking down as the sounds of hunters talking echoed through the area.

A corpse sat on one of the chairs, a spare rifle placed in his hands. Elva looked to Joel, nodding, as if giving him a sign. He sighed, grabbing the rifle and peering over the scaffolding.

"They haven't gotten back yet." One of the hunters spoke.

"What the hell is taking 'em so long?"

"I don't know, they went to check on 'em." The first replied. "For now, we wait."

Elva scratched the back of her head, slapping a fly off of her neck. She'd have to get rid of her long, blonde hair soon. It was an issue, dealing with chest-length locks, but she decided to put off cutting it with a shiv until they reached Jackson.

"Alright now... We're gonna jump down there and clear a path." Joel spoke, pointing between him and Elva. The woman nodded, looking at Ellie.

"What about me?" The teenager asked.

"You stay here." He replied.

"This is so stupid." Ellie frustratedly stated. "We'd have more of a fucking chance if you'd let me help-"

"I am!" Joel yelled, trying to keep his voice down. He grabbed the rifle, holding it up towards Ellie. "Now you seem to know your way around a gun, you reckon you can handle that?" He asked.

"Well- uh- I've sorta shot a rifle before." She replied, grabbing the gun. "But it was at rats." Elva took a double-take.

"Rats?" She asked.

"With BB's."

Elva nodded, smiling a bit. Joel sighed. "Well, it's the same basic concept. Lift it up." Ellie did as he told her. "Alright, now you're gonna wanna lean right into that stock, 'cause that is gonna kick a hell of a lot more than any BB rifle."

Ellie nodded, tilting her head a bit as she maneuvered the gun. "Okay."

"Go ahead and pull that bolt back." He instructed, pointing at the gun. "Grab it right there and tug it." Ellie suddenly reloaded the gun, smiling at her success. "Now, as soon as you fire, you're gonna wanna get another round in there quickly." Joel looked at her, a serious look in her gaze. "Listen to me, if we get into trouble down there, you make every shot count."

"I got this." Ellie stated, looking at Elva and Joel. "I won't let you two down."

Elva smiled. "I know you won't."

Joel nodded, beginning to crawl towards an opening in the scaffolding. "And just so we're clear about back there, it was either him or me." He spoke, jumping down.

The older woman smiled to Ellie, standing above the opening. "I told you he'd come around." She stated, slipping down onto the ground.

Ellie took aim at the hunters, squinting her left eye just a little bit. "You're welcome, Joel."

★★★★★


	17. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: HOW'D I DO?  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"-Asshole should've known better. If you're gonna steal, you better make sure you get away with it." A hunter spoke. Both Joel and Elva eavesdropped as they hid behind a concrete road block.

Another hunter began running towards the group, yelling. "They're all dead! They're all fucking dead!"

"The hell's he yappin' about?" The first hunter exclaimed. "Take a breath. Who's dead?"

"The whole crew. The seventy-six lookout guys." He explained, breathing heavily. "Some fuckin' tourists killed 'em, killed all of 'em!"

"Shit." One spoke. "Have you talked to the boss?"

"Yeah. He wants everyone to hold their ground and watch the gate."

"Alright, you heard him." The hunter began yelling out, notifying the other group of hunters around them. "Search the area, do not let anybody through!"

Joel beckoned Elva over to the side, letting her pull out her bow as two of the other hunters began talking a little ways away from them.

"He's gotta be wrong."

"About the crew being dead?"

"I don't see some tourists taking out the entire crew."

Elva lined her bow up to the hunter's head and fired, sending a clean headshot into his skull. The man slumped to the ground in one hit, his hunter friend not noticing until Elva placed an arrow into his head, as well.

"I see someone!" One of the hunters yelled, causing Ellie to shoot him twice in the chest with her rifle. Joel was quite impressed, although he wouldn't admit it.

The two walked through an old police-station type building, spotting a man on a higher level of a skyscraper and another just below.

Both Joel and Elva hid behind another cement block, hearts racing as one of the hunters edged closer and closer towards them. As the hunter passed their hiding spot, Joel turned around, taking him out from the back as Elva shot the other one above them with her bow.

They walked back out into the open, crouching behind an old plant pot as Ellie managed to kill another hunter. That alerted everyone else, of course, but the two doubted there were many more left in the area.

Elva beckoned Joel over to an old coffee shop, another hunter roaming around the hallways. The mle smuggler choked him from behind, preventing the hunter from making any noise by clamping his hand over the man's mouth.

They walked upstairs and across a few planks to make it to where the hunter Elva had killed was. She quickly grabbed the leftover ammo in his pockets before walking back downstairs alongside Joel.

Another hunter was walking on the ground floor of the building they had entered, so Joel quickly snapped his neck while Elva looked for extra supplies. She managed to find enough blades and rolls of tape to make a couple of shivs, so she handed three to Joel and kept the other two for herself.

Mumbling came from behind the windowed wall they had killed the hunter in, so they backed up, taking cover in a small kitchen-like room.

"What the fuck happened to James?" One asked, making both Joel and Elva aware that there were three hunters who had just stumbled across the other's body.

"Those goddamn hunters." One exclaimed.

Joel threw a nail bomb into the doorway they had found themselves in, creating just enough noise for two of the hunters to approach.

The explosion killed one of the two hunters, and Elva quickly snapped the living one's neck. Joel ran back to the kitchen they were in before, slowly choking the remaining hunter until he fell to the floor.

"I found 'em!" Someone yelled from behind. Ellie quickly managed to snipe the hunter that was outside, but that didn't change the fact that more were definitely coming.

The two didn't know how many were left, but from the windows, they spotted four others walking around where they had once been.

One came from the open door that Elva and Joel had been hiding behind. The woman strangled the hunter, trying not to be seen from the alleyway.

Shots came firing from the road, leaving Joel to pull out his gun. Elva swore under her breath, seeing one hunter fall to the ground from Ellie's shots. She pulled out her gun as well, hiding behind a knocked-over dumpster before poking her head out to shoot at the hunters.

The young girl's bullets were just enough to distract the other hunters, leaving only one remaining for Joel and Elva to take out.

"C'mere, you son of a bitch." Elva whispered, splitting up from Joel and jumping into the coffee shop window. She peered through, placing the butt end of her gun right on the windowsill and firing one final shot at the hunter.

He fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Alright, come on down." Joel yelled to Ellie, wiping the sweat off of his face.

Elva turned to Joel, smiling and nodding at their success as they walked towards the scaffolding where the young teenager was taking cover.

The older woman grabbed a pistol from one of the dead hunter's bodies, handing it to Joel. She almost laughed at his bewildered expression, but her face stayed serious.

"I already have a pistol." Joel spoke.

"Give this to her."

The man scoffed. "You want me-?"

"Yes."

"-To give this-"

"Yes."

"To the fourteen-year-old?"

"Yes." Joel scoffed, rolling his eyes. "She saved our lives back there, not to mention before when she saved yours." Elva exclaimed. "She at least deserves a pistol."

The older man looked towards Ellie, who was carefully walking over to the pair, rifle still in her hands. Joel sighed, taking the pistol from Elva.

"How'd I do?" Ellie asked softly, stopping in front of the two adults.

Joel nodded, taking the rifle and placing it on his backpack strap. Elva already had one, it wouldn't hurt for him to have one too.

"How 'bout something a little more your size?" He asked, handing her the pistol. Joel pulled it away quickly. "It's for emergencies only."

"Okay." Ellie nodded, placing the gun in her pocket.

Joel began walking away, Elva staying behind with Ellie before pulling the young girl into a side-hug. "You did great."

★★★★★


	18. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
**SUMMER: I’M HENRY… THIS IS SAM  
**★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The group walked around the terrace for a bit, Ellie still softly smiling at the fact that they let her have a gun of her own. 

The terrace-type area was full of dead bodies and notes strewn all over the place. It was gruesome, to say the last, but the two adults were used to it by then.

“Woah, nelly. Harsh punishment.” Ellie exclaimed, coaxing Joel and Elva to look up. A body hung from a tree, the word  _ thief  _ drawn on a sign that was tied around the corpse’s neck.

“It ain’t that much different from what the military does back in Boston.” Joel revealed, remembering how almost every day he’d see someone thrown to the ground and killed on the sidewalk. FEDRA was horrible, but it didn’t mean that the rebellion was any better.

After a few more moments passed, Elva pushed Ellie away. “C’mon, we don’t need to see this for any longer.” She spoke, continuing to walk along the brick tiles for any sight of an exit.

Bingo. “Joel, get over here.” She yelled to her friend, standing right in front of a large garage door. There was no chain on one side, so she’d have to lift it up with Joel and let Ellie grab it from the other side.

The two slowly lifted it up, trying to evenly distribute the weight. Ellie ran under the gap they made, tugging and pulling at the chain on the other side, but nothing worked.

“The stupid chain is stuck.” She exclaimed. “Hold on.”

Ellie grabbed a hold of an old cart, pushing it under the door. It wasn’t much, but it gave Joel and Elva just enough time to run into the garage.

Joel grabbed a hold of the cart, pushing it out from underneath the garage door and slamming it against the concrete wall. “Ellie, jump up.” He spoke, looking at a large break in the wall they could get through.

She did as she was told, jumping up onto the platforms. Elva followed, turning around on the platform and grabbing onto Joel’s hand. She pulled him up just enough for him to grab onto one of the blockades and climb up.

They walked over to an open window, only to be met with gunshots on the other side.

“Get down, get down!” Elva whispered, ducking down. The group watched as a few tourists ran from a stray military vehicle. Two shots rang through, and they both fell to the floor in heaps of blood.

“What do we do?” Ellie asked.

Joel sighed. “Nothing.”

The dying woman on the street pleaded for her life, only for the hunters in the truck to jump out of the back and shoot her in the head. It was better than suffering.

“Busy couple ‘a days, huh?” One of the hunters asked, rummaging through the dead woman’s jacket and pockets for anything of use.

“Whatever, man. No food, an old pair of shoes, they got nothin’.” The other replied, jumping in the vehicle again. “Let’s go.” He stated, the other hunter joining him as the truck drove off and away from Elva, Joel and Ellie.

“Oh, man…” Ellie sighed, standing up.

“There ain’t nothin’ we coulda done.” Joel stated.

“I know- it’s just- oh, man…” She repeated.

Elva stood up, a soft look in her eyes as she gazed towards the teenager. “Let’s just get to the bridge, El’.” She spoke, trying not to let her voice waver.

They walked out of the room they were in and down another set of hallways, running up a blocked metal staircase. Luckily, there was a door on the other side, but the voices of hunters began echoing through the rooms.

“Well, at least they finally killed that couple.” One exclaimed. “I was sure they made it out of the city. All we need to find now is this fucking pickup truck trio.” He stated.

“There better have been an army in that truck.” Another hunter replied. “How the fuck did they wipe out an entire crew over there?” He asked rhetorically.

The first hunter sighed. “Let’s keep searching. I wanna wrap this up by sundown.”

Ellie, Elva and Joel hid behind a wall as one of the hunters began making their way down the hallway. The two of them made their way down the staircase the group of smugglers once were, turning their back to where they were hiding.

After the three were in the clear, they walked through the halls, trying not to make too much noise as they talked.

“Hearing them talk- at least they’re scared of us.” Ellie spoke.

“Just try not to let your guard down.” Joel responded.

“I’m just saying, it’s good having you two on my side.” She smiled, looking from the older man back to the woman walking beside him. “That was a compliment.” Ellie confirmed.

Joel sighed. “Okay…?”

Elva laughed a bit. “That’s Joel language for ‘thank you’.” She smiled at Ellie. “He doesn’t know how to take compliments. Probably never will.”

The young girl chuckled, eyeing Joel before continuing to follow the adults down the mess of desks in one of the hallways. Joel grabbed a note laying in one of the drawers, examining it closely before putting it in his backpack.

_ ‘We got them on the run. Most of their forces have retreated to Liberty Avenue. Come midnight we strike. Gather every able body and arm them. If you can stand, then you can fight! Anyone that refuses to fight with us will be banished. Anyone that supports the army will be made an example of. Tonight we put an end to this tyranny and start a new life for ourselves.’ _

“God, they’re pretty hardcore.” Elva exclaimed, looking at a similar note left on another one of the desks.

_ ‘Send all the missionaries. Midnight. We’re going to stand up for what is not right, and the government will tremble at our power. We will lead the new world, no Fireflies, no FEDRA, nothing will be left. We will help everyone.’ _

Joel scoffed. “Yeah, you got that right.”

They jumped down into a part of the flooring that had caved in, leading the trio out into the outside world again. The sunlight was slowly moving back down the city skyline, signifying the later time.

A voice of another hunter poured through, Joel, Elva, and Ellie immediately ducking down in response as he talked. “Just got word from the East side crew, they ain’t seen shit.”

“What about Market Street?”

“Yeah, they’re driving through that area now.” The hunter replied. “Who knows, maybe they’ll flush ‘em out.” He smirked.

“I pray to god these tourists show their faces.”

“Fuck, they gotta show up somewhere. I think this’ll be your lucky day.”

Joel led the group further towards where the hunters were. They stood on an upper floor in one of the buildings, the whole wall taken apart.

Elva pulled her bow out, drawing the string with an arrow and taking out one of the hunters. She quickly ran upstairs after Joel, watching as he took out the other guy. Ellie followed behind, still quite wary of what could happen.

Another hunter walked into one of the other rooms, not noticing the dead body with an arrow pierced through its skull. Joel tackled him as well, sending him to the ground silently with a chokehold.

They walked back downstairs and outside again, reveling in the occasional fire barrels they passed. From the contrast of having to dive head-first into deep water and then walk out into the brisk air, it was nice having a bit of warmth.

The group hid behind an old police car, watching as another few hunters walked by an old hardware store.

“Hey, you hear they finally caught the guy and his girl?”

“Who’s left then, just the guy, and the kid, right?”

“Yeah, them and whoever was in that pickup truck.” The hunter replied. “This is a goddamn mess.” He sighed.

Elva quickly took out the one a little farther away with her bow, the first hunter not getting any sort of response from the dead one. Joel spotted another one coming from the hardware store, it would be no use going head-on.

The female smuggler stepped out from behind the car, pulling an arrow through the string of her bow and killing one of the hunters from behind. She beckoned Ellie to hide behind one of the old tanks as she sniped another two hunters.

Joel wished he could do more, but he didn’t have a silent weapon that would work. Elva was their best bet to make it through to the bridge.

There was a lineup of dead bodies slumped against one of the walls,  _ Death for Freedom  _ graffiti on the wall above it. Joel snuck behind one of the hunters that had been patrolling the area around the bodies.

“Oh man.” Ellie exclaimed, standing up. “Endure and survive.”

“What?” Joel asked. It clicked in his mind and he sighed, rolling his eyes at Elva as she gave Ellie a high-five. “Oh, right. The comic book thing.”

The young teenager looked at the row of bodies, grimacing a bit. “Geez, I guess this is how it ended for this zone.” She spoke.

“Every battle has a losing side.” Elva replied from beside her.

“What if they had families?”

Joel let out a sharp breath. “Everyone has a family. Best not to dwell on it.”

“How can you not?”

The older man looked up at one of the fire escape ladders, pressing his back against the brick wall and cupping his hands together. 

“C’mon.” He spoke. Elva nodded, letting him boost her up onto the fire escape and kick down the ladder.

Ellie climbed up first, followed shortly after by Joel. They walked over to the other side, spotting the bridge. It was still quite a ways away, and they’d still need to walk for a lot longer, but they made progress.

“I stayed at a place like this.” Ellie spoke. “Back in the Boston QZ.”

Joel looked at the sign that was plastered on the gate. “‘ _ Military Preparatory School.’ _ ”

“Yeah, it’s a nice way of saying orphanage.” The young girl replied. “I wonder what happened to all these kids.” She pondered.

“This place hasn’t been in use for a long time.” Elva answered. “I doubt they’re kids anymore.” The woman sighed, gazing at the beautiful doors of the school. It was a shame such a gorgeous building was wasted.

“Meaning they’re either hunters trying to kill us, or they’re dead.” Ellie stated.

“Or they got away.” Elva spoke hopefully.

Joel scoffed, making Ellie turn to him. “But you don’t believe that?”

The man shook his head. “I believe in getting out of this city. Come on.”

Ellie suddenly smiled, running over to a nearby building. Joel looked to Elva, eliciting a small shrug from her as she followed the young teenager. She was looking at a large movie poster, dated a bit before the outbreak. It was an old werewolf movie poster, the ones you’d see on the television at midnight.

“These posters are everywhere.” Ellie spoke.

“I saw this right before the outbreak.” Joel stated, causing Elva to look at him with a curious gaze in her eyes.

“You did?” Ellie asked. “Did he totally gut her by the end?”

“El’!”

Joel scoffed. “Nobody gets gutted, it’s a dumb teen movie.”

“Who dragged you to see it then?” She inquired, striking something in Joel. Elva held a hand to his shoulder, somehow knowing that it was his late daughter who had taken him. It was like a sixth sense in a way.

“I don’t know.” He replied. “Let’s just stay focused, alright?” 

Ellie nodded, letting the adults take the lead again.They ran through another alley, ducking down as they heard another military vehicle on the other side of the buildings.

“Agh, it’s that fucking truck.” Ellie exclaimed.

“Keep your head down.” Elva instructed, ducking down. They could hear two hunters talking in the grocery store.

“Six.”

“Nope.”

“Seven.”

“Not even close.”

“Ten.”

“Keep going.”

“I don’t know, twenty.”

“Try twenty-five.”

“Bullshit.”

“Swear to god.”

“You have twenty-five cans of bacon?”

“Well, twenty-four. I just finished one.”

“How the hell do you have twenty-four cans of bacon?”

“Military locker in the hotel from back in the day. Me and Rueben stumbled upon it. Split it right down the middle.”

“And that shit’s still good? When are you making some more?”

“Why?”

“Why do you think? I want some.”

“Yeah, I bet you do.”

“I saved your ass from that clicker last week.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“I shoulda let your ass die back there.”

“Oh, Jesus. I’ll make you some if you quit bringing that up.”

“It better be as good as you say it is.”

“It’s bacon; of course it’s good.”

After snickering at the hunter’s conversation for a bit, the group waited for an opening to get in and kill them. They walked into the grocery store-type building, Elva quickly pulling out her bow and killing one of the hunters through an open doorway.

Joel led the group back outside next, trying to avoid the sight of the military truck as he grabbed one of the stray hunters and choked him.

They snuck through the road, successfully hiding behind each car just enough so that the military vehicle wouldn’t see them. Elva spotted two hunters in the building they entered, so she quickly snapped his neck from behind.

The other hunters unfortunately heard, sending shots from the vehicle into the store through the windows. One of them ran up behind Ellie, grabbing her. Joel took him out and ducked back down behind the shelving units.

“What the fuck are they shooting at us with?” Ellie asked, yelling over the shots being fired behind them.

“Some military-grade bullets! Get down!” Elva yelled.

One of the hunters came in, Joel immediately shooting him twice in the face. Once to kill him, twice for good measure. 

Narrowly evading each shot, Elva tackled down another hunter and put a few bullets in his skull. They had no choice to wait it out until the shots stopped firing at them, so when they heard the glorious sound of tires slowly driving away, the group sighed in relief.

Joel led them all up into an office building of some sort, trying to find somewhere that they could take cover for a while. Thankfully, up the fire escape was a plank that led to an apartment block.

Ellie, followed by Elva and Joel, jumped into one of the windows, desperately searching for any exit they could use to the outside. There was another broken window, and they began side-stepping across one of the small ledges separating the exterior floors.

“Oh, shit.” Ellie exclaimed, watching as the military vehicle passed the road near them.

“We’re okay. They can’t see us.” Joel replied.

They jumped into another window, only for Joel to be held in a chokehold by a man. Elva was held at gunpoint by the man’s other arm.

Ellie jumped in, distracting the man enough for Joel to slam his head into the wall behind them and flip him over. Elva took that chance to grab her own gun and point it at the strange man instead.

Joel began punching the man who had tackled him and held Elva at gunpoint, only for Ellie to begin protesting. “Stop!” She yelled.

The two adults looked over to where she was pointing, seeing a young boy with a gun aimed at the both of them. Joel looked to Elva, standing up and putting his hands in the air. The woman did the same, placing her gun down on the floor and surrendering.

“Leave him alone.” The young boy demanded, still aiming at the two.

“Easy, son.” Joel replied. “Just take it easy.”

The man on the ground extended his hand out to the younger boy. “It’s alright, they’re not the bad guys. Lower the gun.” He spoke. The boy did as he was told, a skeptical look still plastered on his face.

“Man, you hit hard.” The man stated, standing up. “And you have  _ incredibly  _ fast reflexes.” He complimented, looking from Joel to Elva.

“Well, we were trying to kill you.” Joel replied.

“Yeah, I thought you were one of them too, then I saw you.” The man pointed to Ellie quickly. “In case you ain’t noticed, they don’t keep kids around.” He paused. “Survival of the fittest.”

The man looked at his arm, wincing.

“You’re bleeding.” The young boy worriedly stated.

“Ah, it’s nothing.” The man took the boy’s gun and placed it inside his backpack. “I’m Henry, this is Sam.” He pulled out a bandage from the backpack. “I think I caught that your name was Joel?”

“Elva.” The woman introduced.

“Ellie.”

“How many are with you?” Joel asked.

“They’re all dead-”

Henry interrupted Sam. “Hey, we don’t know that.” He spoke, bandaging his arm. “There were a bunch of us, someone had the brilliant idea of entering the city to look for supplies we could use. Those fuckers- they ambushed us, scattered us.” Henry sighed. “Now it’s all about getting out of this shithole.”

“We can help each other.” Ellie proposed. “Safety in numbers and all that.”

Before Joel could intervene, Elva stepped in. “She’s right. We need more people on our side, here. It’ll be a lost cause if we don’t.”

Henry nodded, shrugging. “We got a hideout not too far from here. It’d be safer if we chat there.” He spoke.

Joel paused, thinking for a moment. “Alright, take us there.”

★★★★★


	19. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: WELCOME TO MY OFFICE  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"Follow me." Henry spoke, leading Sam, Ellie, Joel, and Elva out one of the doors in the apartment. Joel was still uneasy about the whole situation, but Ellie and Elva were right, they needed more numbers if they wanted to make it to Jackson.

"Sorry about the whole gun thing." Sam apologized, walking beside Ellie.

"Don't worry, I would've probably done the same thing." The teenage girl replied, striking a conversation with the boy her age. "Where are you from?"

Elva walked beside Joel, trailing just behind Henry.

"I think Ellie needs a friend." The older woman smiled. "The only two people in your life being adults is not great, even if we're in this stupid world."

Joel nodded. "She seems to be gettin' along great with that Sam kid." He responded. Of course, for the group's safety, he was still taking every precaution and was still very wary of the two that had joined them on their journey, but it was nice to sit back and let someone else take the reins.

The two looked behind them, smiling softly at the young girl and boy who were deep in conversation. "I just hope this lasts." Elva sighed, thinking back to Tess, Bill, Tommy, even herself.

"Yeah, me too." Joel replied.

They walked through the cheap and destroyed apartment in silence, smiling every once in a while at the two teen's conversations.

Henry talking snapped the other two adults out of their silence as they approached the hallway of the apartment building. "We gotta be careful, we're right next to one of their lookout areas." He looked behind slightly. "Is it just you guys?"

"Yeah, unfortunately we couldn't find any more people to help us." Elva answered, trying to keep the fact that everyone that helped them had either died or left.

Henry nodded. "Just you two and your daughter?"

"We're not related, we're more like- um..." Ellie stammered.

"We promised someone we'd look after her." Joel replied.

"Yeah, I can appreciate that." Henry nodded.

The group continued down the apartment building staircase, trying to ignore the growing uncomfortable silence between them all. Ellie and Sam had begun walking ahead of Joel and Elva, leaving them at the back of the group.

"Do you ever wonder what it might've been like now if the infection never existed?" Elva asked, trying to make a bit of conversation with Joel. She wanted to cover up the drowning silence that had overcome them all.

Joel shrugged. "I don't think I would've met you."

"Really?" Elva spoke. "I think we would've met one way or another. I mean, I worked right in Austin." She stated, walking down another hallway and into a toy store.

"Maybe then-"

"Wait, wait. Everyone be quiet." Henry spoke, the sound of another military vehicle driving by echoing across the room. "Get away from the windows."

Joel, Sam, Ellie, Elva and Henry ducked down underneath the windowsill shelves, taking cover and watching the hunters drive by.

"They're gone." Joel sighed, relieved.

"Man, that fuckin' truck." Henry exclaime. "It's been hounding us ever since we got in this damn- Sam, what are you doing?"

The group turned to the young boy. He was holding an old toy robot, and it looked like it was in excellent quality for existing post-outbreak. "Nothing." He replied.

"Get rid of it." Henry demanded.

"My backpack is practically empty."

"What's the rule of takin' stuff?"

"It weighs like nothing-"

"The rule; what is it?"

Sam sighed, placing the toy back down on one of the shelves. "We only take what we have to." A sad frown was plastered on his face, making Ellie feel a bit of sorrow for the kid.

"That's right." Henry spoke, his voice softening. "Now come on."

Joel was the first to speak up after another deafening silence, none of the others wanted to break it. "How far is this place?" He asked.

"We're close. Real close." Henry replied.

They left out the back exit and into a garage, more old, molded toys scattered around the place. Coincidentally enough, it was a hunter lookout point, and they made sure to hide behind a few desks and shelving units to take cover.

"Shit." Elva swore. "Ellie, can you watch our backs?"

"Of course."

Henry looked to his younger brother. "Sam, stay with her."

The young boy nodded and the adults moved forward to another box, trying not to attract the attention of the hunters on the other side of the road.

"What'd you find?" One of them asked.

"Nothing." The other replied. "It looks like someone was up there, but they're long gone."

"So, where are the others?"

"They wanted to give it another once over and make sure we didn't miss anything."

"Alright." The first hunter spoke. "Keep an eye out over there, I'll check this area."

There were a total of three hunters, all of them in one group. Elva grabbed out her bow and shot one of them, letting Joel throw a sugar bomb and take another hunter down. The final one hid behind the van, only to be beat to death by Henry.

The younger man sighed in relief, both Ellie and Sam running over towards the other adults. "We did it." Henry spoke, turning to Elva and Joel. "Not bad, old timers."

Elva chuckled a bit. "Call him an old-timer, not me."

"Come on, up on this truck." Henry instructed, breaking Joel's exasperated sigh. The group jumped up onto the cargo vehicle.

Immediately, two hunters came running onto another platform just above them, spotting the group of smugglers. Joel shot one in the head, letting Elva take the other one out with her rifle.

They walked across a plank and into another building. "Through this door." Henry spoke, standing directly in front of two large, wooden double doors.

"Are you sure it's safe being so close to the hunters?" Elva asked.

"I'm the only one with the key." Henry shrugged.

"Where'd you even get that?" Joel inquired, still quite skeptical of the other man's intentions of surviving.

"I killed one of 'em. He won't miss it now." He replied, smiling a bit as he opened the door to one of the rooms. "C'mon, everybody through."

"So, how old are you?" Sam asked Ellie.

"Me? I'm fourteen." She answered. "How old are you?"

"The same."

Henry snickered. "Oh, you're fourteen, huh?"

"I'm close." Sam pouted.

Elva laughed at the young boy's antics as they passed a few desks lined up against the wall. It was an architectural office, frozen in time. They walked through to the suite, Henry closing the door behind everyone and smiling proudly.

"Welcome to my office." He spoke, smiling widely.

"How long have you guys been holed up in here?" Ellie asked, gazing around the room and then back to Sam.

"A few days. We found a bit of food though." The young boy replied. The two teenagrs walked off towards where they had the food.

Henry turned to Joel and Elva on the other side of the room. "Blueberries, we found a whole stash of them. You want some?" He asked.

"No." Joel answered. Elva shook her head, her appetite had been lost a while ago.

"Hey, relax." Henry spoke. "We're safe."

Joel turned around, looking at the other man. "So why haven't you left?"

Henry sighed, looking down and shrugging. "'Been waiting for the right opportunity."

"And?"

"Check this out." Henry spoke, walking over to one of the broken windows. Elva and Joel followed him, seeing many armed hunters down right below their office suite. "Look at these sons of bitches. Everyday they congregate down there, guarding that damn bridge." They looked up a bit, the bridge that Elva, Joel and Ellie were trying to make it to sat just past the gate. "Come night time, it's a skeleton crew. After sunset, that's our window. With most of them gone, we can sneak right past them."

Elva nodded, impressed with the man's plan. "That could work."

"Oh, it'll work. It'll definitely work." Henry replied.

They could hear Ellie and Sam laughing behind them, causing all three to turn towards the two teenagers. They were getting along quite well, and it made Elva crack a soft smile. Both of them were trying to throw blueberries in the air and catch them in their mouths.

"It's been awhile since that boy even cracked a smile." Henry spoke. "She doesn't seem bothered by all this." He pointed to Ellie.

Joel just frowned, looking down at the ground and changing the topic. Elva smiled empathetically at him, almost telling him that he didn't need to tell them anything. "So where are you headin'?" He asked, sitting down on one of the office chairs.

"I heard the Fireflies are out west somewhere, we're gonna join up with them." Henry spoke, sitting down as well. Elva pulled a chair out and sat with them.

"Yeah." Joel chuckled lightly.

"Something funny?" Henry asked.

"Just seems like there's a lot of people putting their stock on the Fireflies these days."

Elva nodded. "There's a reason for that, I'm sure."

Joel sighed. "So you don't know where they are and you're just gonna drag him around the country to find 'em?"

"I tell you what." Henry scooted his chair forward. "How about I worry about my brother, and you two worry about your girl?"

"Calm down." Elva spoke softly. "We're here for the Fireflies too."

"You know where they are?" Henry asked.

"I do, but there's rumours that they moved locations." She answered.

Henry chuckled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a map. "This is us." He stated, pointing to one location. "There's an abandoned military radio station just outside of the city. Any survivors from our group are supposed to meet us there tomorrow." Henry pointed to the location on the map. "If you two and your girl wanna join us, it goes down tonight."

"I guess we better rest up then." Joel sighed.

★★★★★

Joel was woken up by Ellie, and he found himself lying in the chair he was sitting in hours before. Elva was sitting across from him, also just woken up by Ellie.

The young girl sighed. "He said it's time to go."

Both of the adults nodded, standing up and stretching as Ellie walked off. Henry was talking to Sam just beside the office door.

"-we're gonna be moving fast, okay?" Henry spoke. "So no matter what, you stick to me like glue." He stated, looking directly into Sam's eyes.

"Like glue." The boy repeated.

"Like glue."

Sam nodded. "Got it."

Henry patted his younger brother's shoulder. "Good, good." He spoke, looking over to Joel, Ellie and Elva. "Alright, y'all ready?" He asked.

Joel looked over to Elva, then to Ellie. "Yeah."

★★★★★


	20. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: I SAVED YOU  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"Alright, y'all stay close, okay?" Henry clarified, walking out of the office. Ellie and Sam followed shortly behind him, leaving Elva and Joel to protect the back.

"Have you tried this before?" Joel asked.

"Uh, yeah." Henry gulped.

Elva sighed. "That's comforting." She spoke sarcastically. They all tried to keep their voices down, they had no clue if a group of hunters were still lingering in the office building or not.

"Relax." Henry replied. "It's this way." He stated, leading the group of six down a large stairwell. It led down into a room, Henry checking the surroundings before crouching and walking through.

A few hunters stood in the room, the group ducking down behind a few chairs. Elva pulled out her handgun, loading it.

"Okay, let's try to take them out quietly." Henry suggested. "I'll follow your lead."

Joel turned to Elva, watching as she pulled out her bow and pressed an arrow against the string, nodding towards him. They made their way closer to the two hunters, immediately hearing their conversation.

"Hey, how're you doing?"

"Just trying to keep warm. How's it looking out there?" Before the other hunter got a chance to reply, Elva took a headshot with an arrow. Joel ran up behind the man before he could notice his friend had died, snapping his neck and ducking back behind another tipped over table.

The group walked back outside, spotting a hunter using a large light to help another one snipe an infected. Joel followed Elva behind a cement block, Henry tailing a bit behind and helping Ellie and Sam get towards them safely.

"Hey, you hear that? Clicker." One of the hunters yelled to his friend on the ground. He stood up on the top of the gate, using a large military-grade spotlight.

"Yeah, I hear it, but I don't see shit!"

"Hold up!" The first hunter yelled, aiming his light dead in the center of the cement block rows. "There it is! There!"

The hunter shot the clicker with a loud snipe. "Woo! Nailed it!" He celebrated.

Elva quickly used her bow to snipe the hunter on the ground, ducking down moments later as the flashlight _just_ grazed their bodies. It spotted Joel's backpack, the smuggler immediately pulling out one of his scoped weapons and shooting the hunter before he got a chance to shoot.

Another four hunters dropped down from the other building at the noise, one throwing a molotov just behind the group of smugglers. Henry took out one that had made his way to the group, and Elva took out another with her handgun.

Only two remained, Elva taking out one that had been getting dangerously close to her before Joel took out the other one.

"Alright, we did it." Henry exclaimed, breathing heavily.

"C'mon." Elva motioned to Ellie. "We got it."

The young girl nodded, standing up from her position with Sam behind one of the cement blocks. They walked up to the gate that the skeleton crew once stood at, taking a chance to warm up near the barrel fires.

The generator hummed loudly near them, but that noise wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a hunter to hear, so they didn't worry about it. "Let's give this a try." Joel suggested, Elva and Henry joining him to push open the gate doors.

A military vehicle came up from behind them, their flashlight _just_ spotting the group as they closed the gates. "Shit!" Elva swore.

"Go!" Henry yelled to Sam and Ellie.

Everyone began sprinting through the other side of the gate.

"Hey, they're over here!" A hunter yelled, presenting himself and standing on top of one of the empty cargo trucks. They booked it behind another wall, pressing their backs up against the moss and brick as the adults loaded their guns.

"What do we do?" Ellie asked, a panicked look on her face as she gripped on tight to her emergency handgun.

Joel sighed, looking from Elva, to Henry, then back to Ellie. "We kill 'em, we get out."

Henry ducked out, taking the hunter down with a few shots. Thankfully, no more came from where he had come from.

"I'll go check it out. Gimme a boost." Henry spoke. Joel nodded, letting him boost up onto his feet and climb up onto the ladder attached to the vehicle.

He climbed up, the coast seeming clear. "We're good. Sam, let's go."

Joel boosted the young boy up, letting him join back with his brother. The military vehicle began ramming into the gate across from them as Ellie got boosted onto the ladder. She nearly Joel as the ladder broke under her pressure, but she was pulled up by the older man on the other side.

"Okay, we gotta get them up!" Ellie spoke, frantically looking for a way to get Joel and Elva up onto the vehicle and escape from the oncoming hunters.

"I'm sorry..." Henry stated. "We're leaving."

Elva looked to the three up on the truck and back to the hunters that were still ramming into the gate. She pulled out her handgun again, a panicked look on her face.

"What? This is bullshit!" Ellie yelled. "What the fuck, Henry?"

"Oh shit." Joel swore, the lock on the gate nearly breaking as the two others ran away from the smugglers.

Ellie jumped down to Elva and Joel. "We stick together." She stated, looking between the two of them.

Elva grasped onto Ellie's hand as they ran for one of the garage doors, more and more gunshots being fired in the air. She let go to help Joel push up the door, attempting to make their escape.

The young teenager grasped onto Elva's hand again as they ran through the garages, feeling a strange comfort in it. As soon as they got in, the vehicle busted down the gate, spotting them as they ran through.

"How the fuck do we get out of here?" Ellie asked, letting go of Elva's hand to grab her emergency gun. Joel quickly made a molotov, passing it to Elva. She did the same, but made a few shivs for the both of them.

Joel immediately ducked down behind a bar as they entered a pub filled with hunters, gesturing for Ellie and Elva to do the same.

"They're-!" The hunter running behind the bar was cut short as Joel slammed his head with a bottle, finishing him off with a loose pipe he had picked up.

As Joel looked for another bottle, Elva took down the next hunter that came by, slamming a shiv into his stomach and snapping his neck.

She held down another one, gripping the hunter by the neck and holding a gun to his head. Two more came in, hesitating to shoot her as she held their fellow hunter.

They didn't know that Joel had a scoped gun pointed straight at the other one, so Elva quickly shot the hunter in her arms and then the one nearest to the door. She ducked back underneath the bar as the three bodies hit the ground.

Joel, Ellie and Elva moved up and hid behind the pool table, two other hunters walking in. Elva was still reloading her guns, so Joel and Ellie swiftly took them out by tackling them from behind. To be honest, the male smuggler was impressed with Ellie's skills.

The group walked back out from the pub and into the main reception area, pulled a large wheeled container out of the way from the double doors. They were chained, so Ellie ducked down underneath first, followed by Elva and then Joel.

Right in front of them was the yellow bridge they were on the way towards. It was like the ending of a scene in a happy movie. Except it wasn't.

The military vehicle from before began ramming into one of the gates nearby, many hunters yelling at each other to get to the group of smugglers.

Joel, Elva and Ellie made a break for the bridge, running as fast as they could through the road. The vehicle broke through the bridge, causing them only to sprint faster.

The male smuggler tripped, causing Elva to run back to him and pull him up. "Run!" She yelled, still gripping tightly to his arm as they ran through the first part of the bridge. They dodged cars and trucks and cement blocks of all kinds, making their endurance run out faster than it should have.

"Oh shit." Ellie swore, discovering the bridge had long been broken.

"No." Elva spoke, looking behind the group to see the vehicle coming towards them at a rapid speed. Much faster than they could run, if they could.

Joel began pacing. "How many bullets do you have left?" He asked Ellie.

"They're gonna kill us!"

"What other choice do we have here?" Elva asked.

Ellie pointed to the water. "We jump."

Joel shook his head. "No, it's too high and you can't swim. I'll boost you two up, you can run past 'em."

"No." Elva spoke harshly.

The vehicle hit one of the trucks on the bridge, one of the cars falling off due to the impact. Ellie swore, backing up from the pieces of road that were breaking off.

"You two can keep me afloat." She proposed.

"Ellie." Elva spoke harshly.

"No time to argue."

The young girl jumped off of the bridge, panic rising in the two others in her group. Elva looked to Joel for a split second.

"We stick together." She stated, letting go of his arm and leaping off into the water after Ellie. Joel sighed in exasperation, also jumping into the water.

"Elva? Joel?" Ellie yelled, sputtering up water. Joel saw Elva's head pop out of the harsh tides. He began swimming towards the young girl, trying to catch onto the others before they could hit anything.

Elva wrapped herself around Ellie, Joel wrapping himself around her before hitting a rock, Joel immediately passing out due to the impact.

★★★★★

Joel woke up on a beach, startled and extremely sore. Ellie and Elva were slouched over him as they helped him up. He could barely hear anything, but he managed to track two voices coming from across the beach.

"We're alive." Elva whispered.

"-What'd I tell you, huh? He's good, everything's fine." The voice of Henry came booming through. Joel managed to stand up, immediately pushing Henry to the ground and pulling out his gun on the two. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Henry yelled.

"Get back, son!" Joel pointed. Elva held him back, pushing him backwards.

Henry looked over to Sam, the young boy's face in a panic. "He's pissed, but he's not going to do anything." He stated.

"You sure about that-?"

"Stop." Elva spoke, almost yelling.

Joel scoffed. "He left us to die out here."

"No, you had a good chance of making it, but coming back for you, meant putting him at risk." Henry interrupted, pointing to Sam. "If it was the other way around, would you have come back for us? I saved you."

Joel looked to Elva, Ellie walking up beside them. Elva nodded. "He's right."

"He saved me too. We would've drowned." Ellie replied.

The male smuggler sighed, hesitantly placing his gun away and walking a few feet away from the group. Elva walked over to him as Henry stood up.

"Just- I know you can't trust him, but for now, at least put a little faith in him." She spoke, head still throbbing from the impact. Joel let out a sharp intake of breath, looking at Elva and nodding slowly.

They looked back over to Henry, Sam and Ellie. "Y'know, for what it's worth, I'm really glad we spotted you three." He stated. "Now, that radio tower is on the other side of this cliff, okay? The place is gonna be full of supplies." Henry offered. "You're gonna be really happy you didn't kill me."

★★★★★


	21. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SUMMER: WHAT ARE YOU SCARED OF?  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"Let's search this area, see what we come up with." Henry spoke, running over to one of the fallen-over trees. It was connecting two rocks, so the group had to duck under it. Joel and Elva fell behind.

She rested a hand on Joel's shoulder. "You okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah."

Elva smiled softly. "Then let's go find that radio tower."

Once again, they split off into two groups. Ellie, Elva and Joel in the back and Henry with Sam in the front. They spotted a small boat shipwrecked against one of the rocks, finding a few pieces of old blades in it.

"For a second there, I thought you might shoot him." Ellie remarked to Joel.

"Yeah... I almost did." He replied.

"They're alright." Ellie smiled. "I think it's good to have 'em around." She spoke, making Elva smile. She knew that the young teenager wasn't open to making new friends after her time in FEDRA, but seeing her be excited to converse with Sam was a fresh feeling.

Joel sighed. "I think you're right."

Elva broke the conversation, spotting a much larger, industrial boat on the edge of the shore. It was covered in moss and sand, the old paint not even visible anymore through the overgrowth. "Maybe we can find something in that boat over there." She suggested.

Henry and Sam came out from the other side of the large rock, joining back with the others. "Keep your eyes peeled!" The man yelled.

"Way ahead of you, kid." Joel muttered.

The group of six made their way onto the boat, jumping up onto one of the lower-leveled ledges.

"Woah." Ellie exclaimed as Joel opened the door to the captain's quarters.

Elva smiled at the young girl. "What?"

"It's my first time on a boat."

"It's a bit different when it's actually in the water."

Ellie grinned. "One step at a time."

The captain's quarters was quite empty apart from a few leftover notes from the workers and another _Savage Starlight_ comic. Joel pocketed the comic into his backpack, reminding himself to give it to Ellie later.

There was nothing on the underneath of the boat, either, besides a Firefly pendant left on a wooden crate. Elva picked it up, running her fingers over the metal engraving. She placed it in her pocket, leaving the boat and joining the others on a large rock.

A sewer grate was lodged into the side of one of the cliffs, followed by a dead body just across from it.

Henry shone his light into the pipe. "I bet this goes all the way through, gimme a hand with this." Joel and Elva nodded, lifting up the sewer door with much effort.

"Go." Elva spoke, letting Sam and Ellie climb into the sewer first. Henry followed after Sam with Elva and Joel climbing in shortly after.

"Flashlights out." Henry stated. "Sam, stay-"

"Stay close, I know." Henry replied.

"Someone's finally learning."

Joel leaped up into a separate pathway, Elva sighing. "Do you see anything?" She asked, the water from the old sewers soaking her boots.

"Nope!" He yelled. "Gotta find a different way."

Joel snuck back under the small opening and jumped back down to Ellie, Henry, Elva and Sam. The brothers walked around one side of the sewer system, becoming separated from the others by a large concrete barrier.

"I'm not a fan of this place." Ellie spoke, nervously looking around the dingy and water-stained walls.

"Me neither." Elva replied.

"We ain't got much of a choice." Joel stated, the spotlight from his flashlight creating a subtle shimmer against the water.

They walked up onto a piece of flooring that wasn't flooded, spotting a blocked chain door and a vent cap. "If you can get that open, I can crawl through and clear that door." Ellie suggested.

Elva nodded, opening the vent cap. "Go for it."

The two adults could hear Ellie mumbling as she crawled through the vents, entering on the other side of the blocked door. "Voila." She spoke, frankly quite proud of herself. "Do you think they'll join us all the way to Tommy's?" Ellie asked about Henry and Sam.

Joel sighed. "Well, I don't know. We're just gonna have to see how everything pans out."

"Knowing Tommy, I don't know how well the idea of two strangers coming into Jackson would go with him." Elva laughed.

"Yeah, well, he knows us. He should trust us." Joel responded.

"He hasn't seen me in twenty years." Elva spoke.

"Yeah, he ain't seen me either."

"What?" Elva asked, baffled. She stopped walking, Joel turning around to face her. "You haven't seen him since the FEDRA attack?"

"Nope. He went on his own." Joel lied.

"Bullshit."

Joel sighed deeply, rubbing his finger against the bridge of his nose. "After you were taken, I went on my own, he went to the Fireflies. After that, he went to Jackson. He hasn't seen me."

Elva rolled her eyes. "Then I doubt taking Henry and Sam to Jackson would bode well with him." She stated, walking through the room and halls again.

It came up to a dead end, causing the group of three to turn back out of the room and walk through an open tunnel across from them. Low and behold, Henry and Sam were standing just outside of it.

"This way." Henry yelled, walking on top of a platform and over to another bar-covered room. "Looks like there's a path up ahead."

They walked into a large, open room, light from the outside pouring in from the broken roofing. It was a completely flooded cistern.

"Can we get out this way?" Sam asked, looking over to a large overgrown platform that looked like it could lead to the open roof.

"There's no way to reach that." Henry replied.

"Well, I can't swim." Sam responded.

"That makes two of us." Ellie sighed.

"Alright, then how do we get across?" Elva asked.

"Guess we gotta figure somethin' out." Joel stated. Everyone began looking for a way to the completely decimated roof, looking at a large building with the words _Best Market_ written on the top.

Joel and Elva walked over to a large wheel-type thing, trying to rotate it and lift up the gate from the water.

"It's jammed!" Joel yelled.

"Look, a generator." Ellie pointed out. It sat on another platform across the water. Elva and Joel swam across to try and get it working, Henry staying with the teenagers to make sure they didn't get hurt.

Elva sunk down into the water, spotting what was clogging the gate from moving up. She quickly dislodged it and swam back up, gasping for air. "Henry, give it a shot!" She yelled.

"Alright." He spoke, spinning the wheel and lifting up the gate. "Yep! It's working!"

"I'll go have a look!" She yelled. "Keep an eye out."

Joel swam back out from the water, holding onto Henry's arm as he pulled himself up onto the platform the others were on.

"You good?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, fine."

"You trust your wife out there?"

"She ain't my wife."

Henry nodded. "Ah, is that complicated?"

"To some extent."

Elva swam back out the gate with a palette, fresh blood splattered over her face. Ellie jumped on the palette with little complaint.

"That's smart." Henry complimented.

"Are you okay?" Joel asked Elva.

"Just a few clickers, nothing that I can't handle." She smiled.

Ellie sighed as she was carried across the platform by Elva. "I can't wait to get outta this place." She spoke. The water was just barely brushing against her feet, but it didn't bother the teenager all that much.

"You and me both." Elva smirked, Ellie jumping up onto the concrete where the generator laid. "See if that thing's still got some juice." The woman instructed.

"Here goes nothin'." Ellie remarked, pulling on the generator cord and letting a loud humming noise come out of it. A few lights flicked on and a loud noise came from the room, everyone watching in astonishment as some power came back to the sewer system.

"Huh, I can't believe that actually worked." Sam stated.

"Yeah, don't jinx us." Henry playfully spoke.

The large platform that the two brothers and Joel were standing on began moving across towards Ellie, making a perfect pathway for them to get over to her.

Joel pulled Elva out of the water, letting her regain balance on the concrete floor before walking back through the tunnel.

"I gotta say, I'm impressed with you two." Henry complimented, speaking a bit louder over the loud rumble of the generator.

Ellie scoffed. "We're pros at this by now."

The group continued making their way through the sewer system, meeting a door with childlike drawings sketched onto it. It looked like castle doors with beautiful, lush green crayon scribbled near the floors.

"What's up with this?" Ellie asked.

"Do you think there's people inside?" Sam responded hopefully.

"Maybe." Elva replied.

Ellie worriedly looked at the adults. "Are we really going in there?"

Joel opened the door, glass bottles dropping to the ground as they entered. "Shit." He muttered, the glass cracking under his feet.

"It's a sound trap." Sam remarked.

"A what?" Ellie turned her head towards the boy.

"It's a kind of alarm." Elva responded.

"I don't hear anything."

"Someone used to live here." Joel stated, looking up at the now empty, hanging box that once held the bottles in it. "It doesn't look like that's the case anymore."

"Who would stay in here?" Sam asked.

"Someone who thought they could keep a place like this safe." Henry answered.

In one of the corners of the rooms stood a drawn soccer net on the wall. Ellie smirked at it playfully. "This is awesome! Sam, stand by those posts over there." She spoke, kicking a vall into the goal, only for Sam to catch it.

"Oh! Henry, did you see that?" The young boy asked.

Henry sighed. "Let's keep it down, okay?"

Sam looked down to the ground, placing the ball back down on the concrete. "Yeah, sorry." He replied.

The sounds of clickers and stalkers echoed through the tunnels. "Infected." Elva pointed out, crouching down and lowering her voice down into a whisper.

Joel shushed everyone. "Be quiet."

Everyone walked down into another flooded pipe system, an infected immediately running down from another staircase and attacking Joel. Henry had already pulled out his gun and shot the runner a few times before it could tackle the other man into the water.

"There's three more heading our way!" Henry yelled.

Elva grasped her gun, shooting one to death before having to reload. Joel joined them back on the staircase they had entered from, shooting another infected until it hit the floor. Joel took the last one out with a pipe, bashing its head to the ground.

Ellie sighed in relief as no other signs of infected were heard. "I guess we know what happened to these people."

"There were a few clickers back on the other side of that gate, they must've been gone for quite a while." Elva replied.

"We gotta keep moving forward." Henry spoke. "All we can do is hope that there aren't any more of 'em." He stated, looking up at a whiteboard scribbled with red ink. "Doubtful, I know."

They made their way through to where the infected had run down from, walking up a set of stairs and avoiding the rats running underneath their feet.

Joel and Elva walked into another room, a dead body slouched in the corner and a large heap of something underneath a sheet. The male smuggler grabbed a note from the dead body and read it to himself.

_'We're trapped, I think everyone else is dead. Some of the little ones are with me, but I got infected pounding at the door. I don't know how long we'll hold out. If Ish and the others are alive, maybe they can reach us. If it comes down to it, I'll make it quick. -Kyle'_

He let Elva read the note, the woman letting out a short gasp as she gazed over at the white cloth. "Jesus." She exclaimed, the realization that the children's dead bodies were left under the sheet coming to her.

Joel stayed silent, following the woman out the door they came in and meeting back up with Henry, Sam and Ellie. They walked through another tunnel-like exit.

"Hey, you think that leads out?" Ellie asked, pointing her flashlight up into a balcony.

"Could be." Henry replied. "It's too high for a boost, but maybe there's another way to get there." He stated, turning back around and walking through another chained doorway. As soon as Joel opened the door, a gate behind them slammed down.

"Sam!" Henry yelled from the doorway. Ellie and Henry were separated from Elva, Joel and Sam completely, causing panic to rise in all of them.

"Yeah, I'm cool." The young teenager replied.

"Ellie, are you okay?" Elva asked.

"I think so."

"That was me." Joel admitted, looking at the barrel that had fallen down and triggered the gate to drop into place. "I must've triggered some sort of safety gate or somethin'." He spoke, leaning down and placing his hands on the separator. "Let's see if we can lift this."

Ellie and Sam made conversation through the gate window as Elva, Henry and Joel made an attempt to lift the gate up. "So, this is awkward." Ellie spoke.

"Yeah, I know." Sam replied. "It's like every time-"

Loud noises came from Ellie and Henry's side. "Clickers!" The older teenager yelled.

"What?" Joel asked, immediately standing up.

"This thing isn't budging, man." Henry remarked.

Elva looked around. "Go, get outta here!"

Henry looked through the window towards his brother. "Sam, you stay close to them."

"We gotta fucking move!" Ellie yelled.

"Keep him safe!" Henry spoke, turning to Joel and Elva.

"Go!" Joel yelled.

The other two of the group began running, the others watching as clickers chased them through the sewer systems. There were six infected that dropped down, but they just kept coming, there was really no telling how many there were.

"We're gonna be fine." Elva spoke, looking to Sam.

"Yeah, yeah I know."

"Come on, let's see if we can find a way outta here." Joel stated, picking up a few supplies as he silently walked through the halls. It led into an open premise, a clicker immediately running after the group.

Elva grasped her gun, shooting down one of them as Joel shivved another. Sam stayed behind as they fought, not wanting to get himself in danger.

A stalker came running after Joel, pinning him against a shelving unit. Elva took the infected out with a shot to the head, helping the male smuggler up onto his feet again.

"Fuck, how many are there?" Elva exclaimed.

"Too many." Joel replied, shooting down another clicker with his shotgun. "Stay as far away as you can, okay, kid?" Sam nodded, stepping backwards.

Elva blew off another stalker's head with her shotgun, the blood spattering itself onto the two adult's faces and bodies.

Joel threw a shiv into another stalker's face, using his last one. Elva handed him another as she took down another clicker, trying not to step in the pools of blood.

Another stalker ran up to Elva, slamming her against the wall. Her vision grew dizzy from the impact but she managed to push the infected off of her, slamming her foot into its head.

"You okay?" Joel asked her, noticing her legs wobbling a bit as she regained balance.

"Just a little hit to the head." She replied.

They reloaded their guns, checking up on Sam quickly before continuing to make their way through the vast, open space.

Three more stalkers came at them, Joel taking down two whilst Elva took down the last one with her shotgun. They made sure to clear the area and make sure that there were no more left.

"You guys did it." Sam exclaimed.

"We're gonna keep going." Joel spoke, letting Elva catch her breath. "You good?" He asked the teenager.

"Yeah." He responded. "I bet there were a lot of them here. People, I mean."

"Looks like it." Elva smiled, stepping over the stalker's bodies as they tried to look for an exit. A large tunnel presented itself to them, light pouring in from many holes in the roof.

There was a small room with beds in it, small children's drawings and art littered all over the walls. It made Elva and Joel both a little ill as they looked at the dead bodies slumped against a few of the makeshift bunk beds.

They ventured into another room, small, foam puzzle pieces placed on the floor. "Look at this place, it's like a classroom." Sam remarked. "Why couldn't they keep it safe?"

"Son, I wish I knew." Joel replied. "God knows they didn't deserve it."

"Just try not to look at the bodies, okay?" Elva asked.

Sam nodded, instead gazing at the small children's drawings. There were bookshelves and cribs lined up against the wall. The bookcases were filled with picture books that had been dusted and molded over time.

"You think you can knock that ladder down?" Joel asked Sam, approaching a large concrete platform.

"Yeah."

Joel crouched down, holding his hands out. Sam boosted himself up onto the concrete block, pulling down the ladder for the other two to get up.

Elva climbed up first, Joel following behind. "Good job, kid." He remarked.

They walked down another tunnel, hearing voices and gunshots from the other side of the concrete walls. "Fucking thing!" A young girl's voice yelled.

"Ellie." Elva breathed.

"C'mon." Joel beckoned, the three jumping down onto another floor. Henry and Ellie ran through another doorway, shots and cries of infected following after them.

"Sam!" Henry yelled in happiness.

"Oh thank god." Ellie spoke, meeting back up with Elva and Joel. She looked behind them, the door they came through almost breaking down with the weight of the clickers and stalkers. "We gotta keep running."

They made a break for the doorway on the other side, trying to ignore the horde following behind them. Elva grasped onto Ellie's arm, mostly in comfort, but also to help pull her forward.

"Run!" Elva yelled. "There's too many of them to fight!"

They ran through the door, Joel shutting it behind them. "Get away from the door!" He yelled towards Ellie, backing up.

Henry slammed up against another chain door repeatedly, trying to break it down. Sam was already one step ahead, crawling through a vent duct.

"Sam!" Henry yelled, watching as his younger brother entered through the other side of the door. "What the hell are you doin'?" He asked.

"Getting us outta here!" Sam replied, pulling the pipe that had lodged the door out.

"Go!" Joel yelled, making a break for the staircase across from the door. They ran through another doorway, approaching a locked door.

Henry tried to kick it open again, but he was unsuccessful. "The damn thing's stuck!"

"Gimme a boost!" Ellie yelled. "I can get through that window." She pointed up to the broken glass that was placed just above the door.

Elva nodded, crouching down and boosting the young teenager up above the door as fast as she could.

"Go, Sam! You're not staying in here." Henry yelled.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine!"

The young boy got boosted up through the window by Elva, frantically trying to get the door open on the other side.

The hinges of the door that they had come in by began breaking off. "Get ready!" Joel yelled, pulling out his shotgun. Elva did the same.

"Here we go." She spoke.

A mixture of sounds echoed through the room as the infected began filing in. Clicks, screams, wails, everything was pouring through at once. The three adults fought them off for as long as they could, throwing a mix of molotovs and bombs to try and kill them all.

Nothing was enough. No matter how many they seemed to kill, more and more kept running in.

"We got it!" Ellie yelled.

"Alright, move!" Joel demanded.

Everyone squeezed through the small gap in the door, slamming it shut behind them and pressing a large vending machine against it.

"Fresh air..." Henry breathed.

"Look at this." Sam pointed to the wall. The words ' _Warning: Infected Inside, DO NOT OPEN'_ were spray painted on the white bricks.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ellie exclaimed. "Thanks for the warning on the other side, guys." She spoke, rolling her eyes.

Elva sighed. "So, where's the tower?" She asked Henry.

"We're close." He replied. "C'mon, let's go."

They walked down the metal stairs, splitting off into groups again. Ellie, Joel and Elva trailed behind the two brothers as they engaged in their own conversation.

"Are you doing okay?" Elva asked, placing her hand on Ellie's shoulder.

The young teenager nodded timidly. "Yeah, yeah I'm alright."

"Do you wanna-"

"Hey, look at that." Henry exclaimed, unknowingly cutting off Elva. The group of six gazed out over houses upon houses, seeing the faint silhouette of the radio tower. "Yep, what'd I tell you, huh?"

"Let's find a way around to it." Joel replied.

They continued on their journey, splitting off into their respective groups once again. Ellie smiled to herself, looking down at the ground.

Joel sighed. "What's up, kiddo?"

"When I was with Henry, I took out a couple of infected by myself." She answered, looking up at Joel and Elva. "You guys would be proud."

"Yeah." Joel smiled a bit, although it was barely visible beneath his beard.

Elva beamed, ruffling Ellie's hair a bit. The suburbs were much different than everyone remembered, each building either burnt down or completely grown over.

Joel became more and more confused at the two's relationship as the time went on. Was he right in the beginning? Was Elva truly her mother? He had so many theories it was hard to keep his brain thoughtless.

"It was pretty intense back there." Sam struck up a conversation with Ellie.

"Yeah. Totally."

"How'd you three end up together?" He asked.

"Oh- a friend of mine, Marlene, asked Joel to take me to the Fireflies."

"What about you and Elva?"

Ellie was quick to form an answer. "Same thing."

"I hate to be stickin' my head where it doesn't belong, but you two seem very close for someone you met recently." Henry spoke.

The young teenage girl shook her head. "Girls get along easier, I guess." She lied.

"Well, you seem to get along well." Sam remarked.

"Yeah, well now I just boss them around. Isn't that right?" Ellie spoke. Joel scoffed, Elva snickering a bit at the young girl's antics. Ellie continued to think aloud. "What was this place like without infected? I can't even imagine it." She exclaimed quietly.

They heard howling of wild dogs just around the corner of the road, their padded feet making noise through the forest.

"Oh! Doggies." Ellie smiled.

"You're not gonna wanna pet those guys." Elva spoke, placing a hand on her shoulder and backing her up.

"Kid, it's not like it is in the zone, these are wild." Joel explained.

Henry stepped into a completely decimated home. The whole kitchen was blown apart, completely revealing itself to the outside. "I was five when the cordyceps hit." He spoke, grabbing supplies. "My memory's pretty hazy, but I remember living in a neighborhood just like this."

Ellie turned towards him. "What do you remember?"

"Uh- barbeques. Parents, they would throw these crazy big barbecues and invite a ton of people." He answered.

Elva smiled. "I remember those. My sister used to drag me to them all the time."

"Really?"

She nodded. "They were pretty fun though, to be honest."

They jumped out of the house through the kitchen, returning back to the road. Across the street was another house, but it was completely boarded up in every entrance. A large, white truck sat on one of the roads.

"What is this?" Ellie asked.

"This is an ice cream truck." Sam replied, proud of his pre-outbreak knowledge.

"An ice cream truck?"

Joel and Elva watched in amusement as the two conversed. "Yeah, Henry told me about these. They'd sell ice cream straight out of the truck." Sam smiled.

"What? No way."

"It's true." Joel butted in, looking at the old designs painted on the truck. "This thing would drive around and play real loud, creepy music and the kids would come running out to buy ice cream."

Ellie scoffed. "You're totally fucking with me."

"He's not." Elva smirked. "Although, the creepy ass music was too scary for me. I made my sister go and get it for me most of the time."

"Wimp." Ellie remarked.

Elva scoffed, continuing to walk down the suburban road. They walked into another house, immediately spotting old posters strewn to the wall. It was a mix of old boy bands, movies, and TV shows.

Joel looked at them, recognizing a few, but not many. He wasn't too into pop culture before the outbreak, but some things were so famous he knew. _Four Pathways_ was one. He wasn't really into the whole boy band thing, but he remembered _lots_ of news coming out when they broke up.

"Who are these people?" Ellie asked.

"Well, I only know a few personally, but this one was my favourite back in the day." Elva smiled, pointing to a blonde woman's poster. The numbers _1987_ were written on it. "Her name was Tabitha Haste. She had four albums before the outbreak? Anyway, she was legendary."

"Oh, I think I watched this movie." Joel pointed to a poster with six people on it in funky outfits, making Ellie laugh a bit. "Superheroes, I think."

The young girl's stomach rumbled suddenly. "Is anybody else hungry?" She asked.

"Yes." Sam replied.

"Guys, when we get to the radio tower, we get food." Henry spoke.

Sam nodded, his stomach continuing to growl. Ellie spotted a dart board hanging against one of the walls, coaxing Sam to play. Elva smiled at the two as she looked around the house for anything, finding more and more Firefly pendants as she walked around.

Joel met back up with her at the front door, walking back into the suburban road with a few extra supplies stasheds in his backpack.

A far street was blocked by large chunks of debris, a Firefly symbol spray-painted onto a piece of wood.

"The Fireflies were here." Henry stated.

"By the looks of it, yeah." Elva agreed.

Sam looked at the symbol. "How're we gonna find them?"

"I know a guy, my brother. He was a Firefly." Joel answered. "Last I heard he was in Wyoming. We get there, find him, we find the Fireflies." He explained.

"Sounds like a good plan, man." Henry spoke.

They walked over into a cul-de-sac road, a shot firing towards them. Elva grabbed Ellie's arm, dragging her down beside a broken-down car. Henry doing the same with Sam.

"Fuckin' sniper." Henry swore. "Did you see where it came from?"

Another shot fired into the car.

"Somewhere down the street." Joel answered.

Elva cocked and reloaded her guns, holding her handgun. "You guys stay here-"

"No." Ellie protested.

"We need you to keep them busy." Elva replied.

"I'm gonna go around, see if I can't get the angle on him." Joel explained. "Elva will go on the other side, we'll try and take him down."

The woman nodded before separating from the group and Joel. "Be careful." She spoke towards the other male smuggler.

"You too."

Joel ran up the staircase, narrowly avoiding another few shots towards him as he ran through the buildings. The sniper began taunting the others as he fired, missing every shot against them.

More enemies were shooting at him through the trees, causing Joel to duck down under a large, stone fence. He had the high ground, but there were too many of them to take on all at once.

He snuck past them with ease, jumping over a fence and running around the back of where the sniper was hiding. Joel spotted Elva, holding her scoped rifle up against the window and taking out a few of the men on the ground.

The male smuggler took out a few stragglers upstairs in the house with simple hand-to-hand combat, _just_ managing to avoid the hit of their batons.

He snuck up behind the sniper, shooting him with his shotgun and letting the blood pool down underneath him.

Joel spotted Elva again, nodding to her as he grasped the sniper in his hands and took aim. The soldiers on the ground were chasing over the others, shots firing from both him and Elva to try and stop them.

A military vehicle began driving in, almost an exact replica of the one they narrowly escaped back on the other side of Pittsburgh.

The yelling from some of the hunters confirmed the thought. "We're back, motherfucker!"

Joel continued shooting, slowly running out of ammo. He began to rely more on Elva to take shots, trying to keep his ammunition as full as he could.

A molotov was thrown out of the vehicle, destroying the car that the others were hiding behind. Thankfully, though, Elva took a clean shot at the man who was throwing them, letting the driver swerve out of control and catch the vehicle on fire. It rammed into a nearby building, letting the others rest for a bit.

Joel rested his arms, watching as the group of three walked along the sidewalk, relieved that the hunters were gone. Ellie waved in gratitude towards both Elva and Joel.

Suddenly, infected began running out of houses, not letting Joel and Elva relieve themselves from the sniping duties. One pinned Sam down, the other pinning Henry.

Elva took a clean shot at the one on Henry, and Joel did the same with Sam.

Joel listened in, trying to make sure that everyone was okay.

"Sam, are you okay?" Henry asked, helping his little brother up off of the road.

The young boy nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He replied.

"You sure?" Henry confirmed. "You seem funny."

More wailing came from down the fence line on the other side. There were too many infected to count. They poured down into the street, causing Elva to jump down from her window and slide across one of the lower roofs, joining Ellie, Sam and Henry.

Joel couldn't take out all of them as the infected ran towards the group on the ground, causing him to panic a bit. The sniper ran out of ammo quickly, leaving him to run downstairs and meet up with the others.

"You're okay." Elva sighed in relief.

"Still here." Joel replied. "Anybody hurt?" He asked.

Sam made a small noise to signify that he was okay. Henry shook his head. "No, we're good." He answered.

"We should go, now!" Elva yelled, looking at the boarded-up windows as they began to falter under the infected's weight and pressure.

They ran backwards, running out into the backyard of the house and sneaking through a loose plank in the picket fence.

★★★★★

Ellie, Joel, Sam, Elva and Henry sat leisurely on the floor of an old house, basking in the mounds of canned food they gathered from the Radio Station.

"Shut the hell up." Henry chuckled at one of Joel's old anecdotes.

"Dead serious." Joel replied, shoving his face with a spoonful of beans. "It was Tommy's birthday, and that's all he wanted to do. Rent two Harley's and drive cross country."

"God, my dad had one of those." Elva smiled. "I wanted _so_ badly to drive it all through my teenage years. I did once, and it was _amazing_." She spoke, recalling her old memory.

"Man, I could die happy if I could just ride one around the block." Henry spoke, sitting up straight. "What was it like?" He asked.

"Better than you could imagine." Elva answered.

"C'mon, dude, gimme details, describe it!"

Elva and Joel laughed, Ellie standing up and brushing her pants down. "You know what, you three deserve a little privacy."

"No, no, Ellie, Ellie, this isn't any regular motorcycle, okay?" Henry spoke, setting the scene with his hands. "You get on that bad boy, you feel that engine, there's nothing like it."

"Oh yeah?" Ellie chuckled. "How would you know?"

"I've seen it in my dreams." Henry breathed, making motorbike noises and using his hands to mimic a steering wheel. He laughed, laying back down on his side.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Okay."

She walked off into the room that Sam was in, leaving the three adults by themselves around the heating plate. The smell of beans and soup was still lingering in the room, it was like heaven on Earth.

"I don't think anyone from our group is gonna show up." Henry sighed somberly, a small frown on his face. Joel and Elva nodded, understanding his pain quite well. "The worst part of it all is explaining it to Sam."

Elva nodded. "I get that."

Joel sighed, placing his can of beans down on the floor. "Just, let it down lightly, okay?"

"Yeah, I just- we've been runnin' together for almost fourteen years now, I want to make sure he'll be alright." Henry replied.

"Well, we can start by sleeping. I'm absolutely exhausted." Elva remarked, placing her soup can down on the floor and standing up, stretching out her muscles.

"Are we sleeping in shifts?" Joel asked, also standing up.

Henry nodded. "That'd be best, I think."

"Wake me up in an hour." Elva replied, snuggling into a thin blanket on the ground. Joel did the same, laying down a few meters away from her.

It wasn't that easy to get to sleep, with millions of thoughts swirling around in his head, but soon, exhaustion completely took over.

★★★★★

Joel awoke with a start, Elva tapping on his shoulder. He groaned a bit, trying not to wake up the sleeping teenagers on the floor. Sam was in the other room, Ellie had decided to stay with the others.

"I let you sleep in a bit, c'mon." Elva remarked. The sky was pitch black out, the hot plate no longer burning.

The man sat up, brushing his legs off and spotting Henry's sleeping figure against one of the walls. His body was sore from sleeping on concrete, but it wasn't anything that he wasn't used to.

Silence engulfed the two as they gazed out the window. Elva's bow and arrows were slumped up against one of the walls, same with her backpack.

"When can you tell me what happened?" Joel asked in a murmur, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.

Elva sighed. "You have to trust me here, okay?" She spoke. "I can't tell you everything until this is done."

"Why?"

"To protect you and Ellie."

Joel scoffed quietly. "To protect us?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry, but until we get to the Fireflies, you just have to know that FEDRA took me for a few years, I got picked up by the Fireflies, and now I'm here."

"Can I at least know how you know the kid?" He asked, looking over to Ellie's sleeping form. She slept peacefully, it had been a while since she had gotten a proper rest.

"She's not my daughter. That's all you can know."

★★★★★

Ellie woke up to the smell of breakfast stewing on the stove, light pouring over her sleeping position. Joel stood by one of the windows, Elva brandishing her bow and Henry stirring the pot.

"Damn. That smells good." Ellie remarked.

"Good morning." Joel spoke.

"Hey, Ellie." Elva smiled.

The girl looked around the room. "Where's Sam?" She asked.

"I let him sleep in for once." Henry smirked, Ellie sighing a bit in response. "If you want him to join us, you can go wake his ass up."

"Okay." Ellie smiled, walking into the other room.

Joel chuckled at her enthusiasm, watching as Elva stood back up and gazed at an old bookshelf on the wall. It was almost empty, only a few books stood in their places.

A few minutes passed, the group hearing Ellie yell out Sam's name as she was pushed through the wall and to the ground by the younger boy.

"Ellie!" Elva yelled.

"What the hell?" Joel exclaimed.

Sam began attacking Ellie frantically, clawing at her. Henry held his gun in his hand, Elva grasping her own and pointing it towards the young boy.

A shot fired at her feet. "That's my fuckin' brother!"

Elva looked to Sam and Ellie, firing her gun as Ellie whimpered in pain. Sam fell to the ground, sputtering out blood.

The young girl backed away into Elva's arms, letting the woman pull her to her feet as Joel checked her for any signs of infection or wounds.

"Ellie." Elva spoke, grasping onto the young girl's shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah- yeah... Holy shit." She replied, hyperventilating.

Joel looked over to Henry, who was crying on the floor. "Sam..." He whimpered. Joel stepped closer to him.

"Henry. Henry." He repeated, trying to console him.

The man continued muttering to himself, sputtering out as he cried.

"I'm gonna get the gun from you, okay?" Joel spoke. Ellie held onto Elva for dear life, still breathing rapidly.

Henry cocked his gun and pointed it towards Elva, repeating Sam's name under his breath. Joel stepped over, protecting the gun from facing the woman behind him.

"It's your fault." Henry spoke, seemingly looking through Joel and right into Elva. "It's all your fault!"

"This is nobody's fault." Joel replied.

Before anything could happen, the gun fired. Henry had pointed it at his head in the last moments, shooting a bullet into his head. His body fell limp to the floor, blood pooling onto the concrete flooring. Elva shielded Ellie from the view, holding on tight to the shaking girl.

Joel looked back to the others, gulping deeply.

Ellie shook frantically, trying to get her teeth to stop chattering. "Oh my god."

★★★★★


	22. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **FALL: WHY BRING HER HERE?  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

They walked into the dam compound, Tommy shutting the large gate doors behind the group. "False alarm, they're friendly." Maria yelled to the snipers. "We've been dealing with raids, lots of bandits in this area." She explained to Elva and Joel.

"It's been quiet for a few days." Tommy spoke hopefully.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" Joel asked. "We thought we'd find you in Jackson."

Tommy sighed. "I've been trying to bring the plant back to life."

"We had it working before." Maria replied. "But one of the turbines went south."

"We have electricity." Tommy exclaimed, looking to Elva and Joel. "Had. We'll get it running again." He smiled.

Elva beamed a bit. "It's been a _long_ time since I've seen a working town."

"Yeah, well you're about to."

"No way!" Ellie exclaimed, running over to one of the saddled animals. "You guys have horses!" She spoke in excitement.

"We got a whole lot of 'em." Tommy responded. Someone a ways away beckoned him over, pulling him away from the group. "Sorry, I'll be right back."

Ellie glanced timidly at the horse, then back to Maria. "Can I?"

"Yeah, of course. He'll like it if you pet his ears." The young girl nodded, following the instructions and smiling widely. "Have you ever ridden one?"

"I actually have."

Joel scoffed. "When have you ridden a horse?"

"Elva taught me." She answered. Joel looked over to the woman in question, who gave him a shrug and a smile.

"How long ago was that?" He asked.

She thought for a moment. "Long time ago. She was probably ten?"

"You knew her when she was ten?"

Elva nodded. "God. The horse was a beauty though."

Maria looked to Ellie, amused at the girl's admiration towards the horse. "You know, if you want, we can all take some riding later."

"That'd be awesome." The young girl beamed.

"Sounds good to me." Elva smiled, petting down the horse's mane.

Tommy joined the group once again. "All right, let's continue the tour."

They nodded, walking up into the dam. Maria began talking to a worker on the side before continuing to lead everyone through.

Maria's radio began fuzzing, someone patching through. "Yeah, go ahead."

"We're in the control room." The man from the radio spoke. "Steve's about to start it back up, do you wanna come check it out?"

"I'd rather eat with Ellie." Maria spoke.

Tommy sighed. "It's my turn anyway, I'll go."

Joel and Elva followed him out the door. "We'll come with you." Elva replied.

"Go with Maria and put some food in you." Joel spoke to Ellie.

"C'mon, let's give the old friends some space." Maria waved the girl over. "I'm sending Tommy over, stand by." She spoke into her radio.

The group of three walked out the door and into another industrialized room, metal boxes and crates scattered around the flooring. Joel hoped that Jackson wasn't all torn apart and they were living by shreds, but by the looks of it, they were doing just fine.

"This'll be the sixth time trying to get the turbines back online. We've been here for a week, but it feels like forever." Tommy exclaimed, leading Joel and Elva through the plant. "Uh- got something for both of you." He pulled out two photo frames. "Last year I went back to Texas, back home, most of our stuff was long gone. But I managed to scrounge up these."

Elva looked in her hands, a photo of her whole family framed. "Where did you get this?"

"I had to do some lookin', but I have connections." Tommy smiled.

Joel had a photo of him and Sarah held in his hands, his mind twirling as a pit formed in his stomach. "I'm good." He spoke, handing the photo back.

"You sure?" Tommy asked. "I mean-"

"I said I'm good."

"Okay." Tommy replied, placing the photo back in the duffel bag he got it from. "Well, I'll hold onto it for you."

Elva placed the photo in her backpack for safe keeping. "We need to talk to you." She glanced up at the sleeping form on one of the bunk beds. "Privately."

Joel looked at her, eliciting a nod. They both knew that telling Tommy about Ellie's immunity to the infection was their best option. Joel's brother was trustworthy, they knew that for certain, and it was the only way they could ask about the Fireflies without creating any rising suspicion.

"Yeah, okay. Let me just check on my guys real quick." Tommy agreed. "I don't know what you heard, but you should see the town." He grinned proudly as they walked up another metal staircase. "We're over twenty families strong now."

"Wow." Elva exclaimed. They walked out onto another balcony, breathing in the fresh air once again. "That's impressive."

"It was all Maria and her father. They set up this place and had the idea of it being self-sustained. We got crops and livestock, remember how we thought nobody could live like this anymore?" Tommy spoke, beaming. "Well, we're doing it."

The water rushed beside them as they talked. "What do you do for protection?" Joel asked, still staying a bit behind.

"The adults take turns guarding the perimeter." Tommy replied. "We even have an electrified fence. At least, we do when the plant's up and running."

"What about the infected?" Elva asked.

"We still have to deal with 'em, but it's the world we live in." Tommy nodded.

Joel sighed. "Maybe you don't have to be dealin' with 'em."

His brother chuckled, sighing. "You sound like Marlene."

Soon enough, the three arrived at the turbine station, ready to bring the whole dam and plant back to life. Elva spotted a dog laying down on the ground, so she knelt down a bit, stroking the dog's ears.

"That's Buckley." Tommy explained. "Not much of a guard dog, but he's good to have around." He stated.

Elva smiled before standing up and continuing to walk alongside her old friends. "He's adorable." She exclaimed.

They walked into the turbine station, greeting two workers. "These geniuses are gonna bring this plant back to life." Tommy spoke, patting them on the back.

"We think we got it this time." One smiled, making Tommy laugh.

"What, you don't believe us?" The other asked playfully.

"I didn't say that."

"I bet you a million bucks it works."

"Sure." Tommy grinned. "Make it two."

"We're almost ready." One of the workers stated. "They just need to finish putting the shield back on." He explained, brushing the blueprints on the table out straight again.

"No rush." Tommy smiled, waving to the workers before walking through the doorway and into the large control room. It was _huge._ It looked like an industrial plant you'd find before the outbreak. Elva had no clue how they managed to pull it off, and neither did Joel.

The workers began yelling instructions at each other, trying to get the plant in perfect conditions to work. "Tommy's here." One stated. "Are we good to go?"

"Yup. Go ahead, hit it." The other replied.

Electricity began sparking, lights turning on magnificently. Joel looked at it in awe, it had been so long since he had seen electricity on such a commercial level. Elva turned to him, smiling softly before continuing to walk beside Tommy.

"Nice work, boys." He congratulated. "Somebody get on the horn and give Maria the good news." He spoke, turning towards Joel and Elva. "You see that?"

"It's pretty impressive." Joel replied.

Elva laughed. "It looks like you're out two million bucks, though."

Tommy chuckled. "Let's go talk."

They walked into an office, Joel shutting the door behind them as Tommy set down his rifle and looked out the window.

"You're doing pretty good here, Tommy." Elva stated. "You've got a great crew, too, by the looks of it." She spoke.

"Yeah, they're good men. This place gives them a second chance, it gives us all a second chance." Tommy turned from the window and looked at the two others. "I've got some questions for the both of you."

"Shoot." Joel sighed.

Tommy looked to Elva first. "What happened to you?"

"FEDRA. A lot of it." She sighed. "A long time passed, the Fireflies picked me up and sent me to help Marlene in Boston as a one-off, she helped me escape." Elva replied.

"And you." Tommy turned to his older brother. "Why'd you leave the Boston QZ?"

"We've been on quite the adventure." Joel answered, sitting down on a chair beside Elva, who had done the same.

"I reckon it's got something to do with that girl." Tommy spoke, leaning against his desk a bit. "So, does it?"

Elva sighed. "It's got everything to do with her."

"Well, go on then."

Joel looked to the woman beside him, who gave him a curt nod. "She's immune."

"Immune to what?" Tommy spoke. He snickered as it hit him. "Oh, c'mon."

"It's true." Elva stated. "She's breathed in spores, enough to take down hundreds of people and nothing." She rested her back against the chair, relaxing a bit.

Tommy scoffed, needing a bit more evidence. "Look, we can show you." Joel replied.

"Alright, I'll bite." Tommy smiled, sitting down on a chair across from Joel and Elva. "Why bring her here?" He asked.

"We were supposed to deliver her to the Fireflies." Joel answered. "But, we don't know where they are."

"Apparently, they moved locations, there's no telling where they are now." Elva explained. She thought she knew where they were, but honestly, they could be anywhere at that point.

Tommy sighed. "I haven't seen a Firefly in years."

"But you know where they are." Joel spoke. "Now, we're not asking for much, we just need some gear- enough to set us on our way."

"What makes you think I'd do this for you two?" Tommy asked, placing his foot on the table and leaning back a bit in his chair.

"This isn't for us, Tommy." Elva spoke. "This is your cause, the Fireflies cause."

"My cause is my family now." Tommy replied. "You ain't talking about some walk in the park here." He stated.

"Jesus!" Joel exclaimed aggressively. "Have Maria get some of her born-again friends to do it." He scoffed, waving his hands in the air.

Elva looked at him. "We aren't going to have someone else do this, Joel!"

"And besides, they have families too." Tommy added.

"Tommy, I need this."

"You need this?" Elva asked, scoffing. "You have to do this whether you like it or not, here. You made a promise to a woman who is halfway across the damn country! Get a grip!"

"And you think we can do this on our own?" Joel rebutted. "Our job was to take her to the Capitol Building, not to Salt Lake City!" He yelled.

"Enough." Tommy stated harshly. "You want some gear, sure. But I ain't taking that girl off your hands."

"This is how you're gonna repay me, huh?" Joel scoffed.

"Repay you?"

"For all those goddamn years I took care of y'all?"

Elva laughed. "Took care? You barely even bothered." She exclaimed, standing up. The others stood up as well, beginning to argue. "Trust me, I got nothing but nightmares from those years."

"You two survived because of me!" Joel yelled loudly.

"It wasn't worth it." Tommy replied. Elva didn't want to go that far, so she stepped back a bit, watching as the radio on the table began buzzing in.

"Hello?" She asked, watching as the two others began fighting.

 _'Shit, the alarm's not working!'_ A voice yelled. _'Tell Tommy to get his ass down here right now! We've got bandits!'_

Elva looked to her old friends. "Shut up!" She yelled. "Bandits."

Tommy grabbed his rifle, wiggling out of Joel's grasp. "You two still remember how to kill, right?" He asked.

The woman next to him sighed. "It's not like we ever stopped."

"Then let's go."

★★★★★


	23. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **FALL: IT’S BEST THIS WAY  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Elva, Joel and Tommy ran out of the door, being met with a smoke bomb a few feet away, where the workers were before. They yelled out profanities as the three ducked down beneath a few generators.

“Stop ‘em!” One of the workers yelled. “Don’t let them get into the building!” 

They fired a few shots at the bandit in the plant, Tommy pulling out his rifle and taking a clean shot on his head. That wasn’t the last of them. Another one came out from behind the corner, shooting one of the workers dead. Elva took a few shots with her handgun until the bandit fell to the concrete floor.

Bandits were  _ everywhere _ . Joel took out one that had been shooting from above before Tommy continued pressing forward, killing another one. 

Elva tossed a molotov up onto one of the platforms, killing a few of the enemies. Tommy breathed heavily as they ran up the stairs. “Let’s get a move on!” He yelled.

Joel pulled out his shotgun, taking down another bandit. Tommy used his rifle and shot one of the enemies in the thigh, letting Elva take her shotgun and cleanly decapitate the bandit.

The third one in the control room was taken care of by another worker, letting Elva, Tommy and Joel make their way through the room. They scouted for supplies before pressing through.

“You guys see anything?” Tommy asked a few of the workers.

“We got ‘em.” One replied.

“Let’s get to the bridge.”

Tommy’s radio began fuzzing, Maria’s voice calling through. “Bandits, they’re breaking into the building!” She yelled, her voice broken up by the static.

“Can you get out of there?” Her husband asked.

“No, we’re trapped.”

“Ellie.” Elva breathed. 

Tommy’s panicked intakes of breath were heard from miles away, he was scared. “We’re gonna come to you, just stay-”

“They’re here!” Maria yelled. “Ellie, hide!”

“Maria!” Tommy spoke, only for the line of the radio to go dead with faint static and buzzing. “Goddamnit.” He exclaimed.

They ran out onto the balcony, ducking behind a few plastic canisters. “They’re fighting on the bridge!” One of the workers yelled. Said bridge was directly in front of the group of three, and they could see a few enemies on the ground, as well.

Joel grasped onto his scoped revolver, shooting down one of the bandits. Elva took out her bow, killing another one. Tommy had already made his way below the bridge, narrowly avoiding molotovs as he shot another one dead.

Elva snuck up behind Tommy, hiding behind a few wooden boxes as she fired her handgun at one of the bandits, once, twice, dead. One of the others noticed their accomplice had fallen, spotting Elva and throwing a molotov. She dodged it, running up the metal stairs and slamming the man’s body down to the ground, crushing his head with her foot.

“That’s all of those sons of bitches!” The worker from before yelled.

“We gotta get to the girls!” Tommy exclaimed, joining back with Joel and Elva in front of the door to the plant. They entered into a cafeteria, another load of bandits shooting at the group from below. A few more workers had joined them, their yellow hardhats making it easy to separate the good guys from the bad guys.

Tommy took out his rifle, shooting down one of the bandits, Elva doing the same. They made their way down to where the dead bodies lay, Joel shooting another enemy from behind the door frame.

The next room was fairly empty, only a glint of a gun could be seen as one of the bandits shot at the group. Maria and Ellie were hiding in an office beside them, relief crashing through Joel, Elva and Tommy like an ocean’s wave.

“They’re all dead!” Ellie exclaimed

“Tommy?”

“Maria?”

“I’m alright!” The woman yelled. “The kid’s with me!”

Tommy walked to Maria, making sure she was okay. Joel and Elva ran over to Ellie, looking for any wounds.

“Oh, man!” Ellie spoke breathlessly. “They were coming in from every direction, then Maria was like; ‘we gotta run!’

Elva tried to follow with the young girl’s frantic arm movements. “Ellie, listen-”

“And so we dove over these tables and this huge guy  _ blasts  _ in with his shotgun-”

“Slow down, slow down.” Joel spoke. “Listen-”

“And then-”

Joel grabbed ahold of Ellie’s shoulders as Elva gazed over the young girl’s face for any visible cuts. “Are you hurt?” Joel asked.

Ellie sighed, relieved. “No.”

★★★★★

Joel sat on one of the wooden crates as Maria and Tommy fought a few feet away, Elva joining him with a few bottles of water.

“Here. Ellie grabbed some extras.” She sighed. “Thought you might want one.”

He nodded, grabbing it and opening the lid, taking a large gulp as Elva sat down next to him. To be honest, the events of the last few days had Joel parched, so he almost drank the whole water bottle in one take.

“God, they remind me of my parents.” Elva chuckled lightly, motioning over to the arguing couple.

Joel looked over to the woman next to him. “Your parents fought?”

Elva scoffed. “Didn’t everyones?”

Ellie walked over, standing beside the two adults. “Hey- what’s all that about?” She asked, gaining no response. “Does it have anything to do with me?”

“We’ll talk about it later.” Joel muttered.

The young girl became irritated quickly. “Did he tell you where the lab is?”

“Ellie, we’ll talk about it later.” Elva insisted.

She scoffed in response. “Later, right.” Ellie walked off before Elva could get a chance to talk to her more.

Joel sighed, refraining from going after the young girl. Maria began walking over to the other two adults, Tommy hot on her trail.

“Oh no.” Elva exclaimed.

“Here we go.” Joel spoke softly, standing up.

“You.” Maria spoke, pointing her finger towards Elva and Joel. “If anything-  _ anything  _ at all happens to him, it’s on you two.”

They nodded, both quite afraid of the woman standing across from them. She walked off, leaving Tommy, Elva and Joel to converse again.

“She’s thankful, you know.” Tommy said.

Elva nodded. “Yeah.”

Tommy sighed. “I’ll take you and that girl of yours to the Fireflies.” He spoke, looking at Elva. “You don’t have to worry about it.”

The woman looked to the ground lightly, knowing that she had to go with Ellie. A part of her wished she could stay with Joel, but she knew it wouldn’t be possible.

“It’s best this way.” Joel softly replied.

“Maybe some real good will come of this.” Tommy shrugged.

Joel’s chin trembled a bit as he looked towards Elva. “What’re you gonna do, after you take her to the Fireflies?” He asked.

She sighed, shrugging her shoulders a bit. “I don’t know- probably try and get into some QZ. I got nothing better to do.” Elva responded.

He nodded, why wasn’t he ready to let her go? It would be the best course of action, letting Ellie go with her and Tommy. Why was there still something there? He let her go once, he could do it again.

Or at least, that’s what he told himself.

Joel looked towards Tommy. “I need to talk to Ellie.”

His younger brother walked away, talking into his radio. A few moments later, though, Tommy turned around again. “That girl of yours, she took one of the horses and rode off.” He claimed.

Elva sighed, exhausted. “Which way?” She asked.

Tommy looked at her, then towards Joel. “Come on.”

★★★★★


	24. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **FALL: I’M NOT HER  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The group ran across the grass, meeting up with another worker. He held three horses, just enough for Joel, Elva and Tommy to get to Ellie.

“I saw her riding on outta here.” The worker spoke, pointing towards the large, open gates a few feet away.

“Go back inside.” Tommy replied, taking a hold of the horses. “Help the others clean the place up.” He instructed, getting on the horse.

Joel and Elva got on their horses as quickly as possible, galloping down the old, overgrown highway. It was completely deserted, giving everyone an uneasy feeling.

“See the tracks?” Tommy asked, pointing towards the hoof indents in the dirt. “C’mon.”

Their horses sprinted down the road, trying to pinpoint the way the prints went. The horses seemed to know where she went, or at least, to some extent.

Tommy sighed. “She couldn’t have gotten far.”

Elva looked to Joel, watching as his face turned into one of worry. “We’ll find her, don't worry.” She spoke softly.

Joel scoffed. “Stubborn kid.”

“Does she usually pull these stunts?” Tommy asked as they made their way through an abandoned car tunnel. His voice began echoing against the concrete.

“Nothing like this.” Joel replied.

“She does have a tendency to not listen, though.” Elva said.

“Does she get that from you?” Tommy asked the woman, grinning cheekily. She rolled her eyes, scoffing.

Suddenly, the prints stopped, a large barrier of mossy stones and rocks in the way of the road. “Well, she didn’t go down this way.” Tommy stated the obvious. He looked over off towards a large clearing of trees. “Horse tracks, she went into these woods.”

“Ellie, what’re you thinking?” Joel mumbled to himself.

Elva spotted more footprints, pointing towards them. “There, more tracks!” She yelled.

They continued down the mountain with their horses, trying to find where the young girl could’ve gone. Soon enough, they reached a hunter encampment. A molotov was thrown at Joel, causing the horse to buck him off.

Elva held out a hand towards him. “Get on.” She instructed, letting him sit behind her on the horse.

“How many do you see?” Tommy asked.

“Too goddamn many.” Joel replied.

With the height advantage, Joel and Elva managed to take out a few hunters before they escaped their sight. They jumped down off of the horse, taking cover behind a large truck.

“Go around!” Tommy yelled. “I’ll cover you!”

Joel did as he was told, nodding as he ran up the side of the cliff. Elva and Tommy continued shooting at the hunters from their place on the ground, trying to distract them enough to not care about Joel.

He ran up towards the base, hiding behind a large palette of wood. The hunter shooting at Tommy and Elva was visible, and Joel pulled out his rifle, taking a clean shot and killing the man.

A few shots came from beneath Joel, but they soon ceased as the hunter fell to the ground in a groan. He had an arrow in his head.  _ Thanks. _ He thought, reloading his gun.

Joel shot down another one coming up to the base, and another one that tried to ambush him from the side. Tommy and Elva climbed up beside him, spotting another hunter running down the side.

“Shit!” Elva yelled, narrowly avoiding a bullet as she shot the man to her left.

Tommy sighed. “That’s all of ‘em.”

They ran back towards the horses, only for Joel’s to have run off, spooked due to the amount of gunshots and molotovs. Elva helped him onto hers as Tommy got on his, and they set off to follow the tracks again.

“The tracks keep going this way.” Joel spoke, the horse trudging through a small ravine of water. “I just hope they didn’t get to her.”

A small ranch home was visible, the horse that Ellie had taken sitting just outside of the beautiful porch. It reminded Joel of his own home, back before Outbreak Day, that is.

“She’s gotta be there.” Tommy stated.

“The area looks clear!” Elva replied, walking through the fence gates and towards the home. She and Joel jumped off of the horse, hitching it beside Tommy’s.

Joel walked into the house, turning around to see Elva stopped on the porch. “C’mon.”

“You should talk to her.” She stated.

He scoffed. “Are you kidding? She’s known you for longer, she trusts you-”

“She trusts you more than you think, Joel.” Elva smiled softly. “Go talk to her, and be careful.” She stated.

Joel reluctantly turned into the house. “Ellie?” He asked. “Ellie?!” He yelled, a little louder that time. He was relieved to hear the girl’s voice calling from above the staircase.

“I’m up here!” She yelled.

The man shook his head, walking upstairs and spotting Ellie in an old girl’s bedroom. He scoffed, watching as she sat in the windowsill, reading a diary.

“Is this really all they had to worry about?” Ellie asked rhetorically. “Boys, movies, deciding which shirt goes with which skirt.” She spoke in disbelief. “It’s bizarre.”

“Get up.” Joel stated firmly. “We’re leaving, c’mon.”

“And if I say no?” Ellie replied, sitting up straight.

The man sighed irritatedly. “Do you even realize what your life means? Running off like that, putting yourself at  _ risk _ , it’s pretty goddamn stupid.” He spoke.

“Well, I guess we’re both disappointed with each other then.” Ellie sighed.

Joel walked closer to the windowsill. “What do you want from me?” He asked.

“Admit that you wanted to get rid of me the whole time.” The young girl answered, her voice raising.

He paused. “Tommy and Elva know this area better-”

“Fuck that!” She yelled, getting up and turning away from Joel.

“Well, I’m sorry, I trust them better than I trust myself!” He stated. “Is that what you wanna hear?”

Ellie turned to face him. “Stop with the bullshit! What are you so afraid of? That I’m gonna end up like Sam?” She asked. “I  _ can’t  _ get infected, I can take care of myself.” Ellie added.

“How many close calls have we had?”

“Well, we seem to be doing alright so far.”

“And now you’ll be doing even better with Tommy and Elva!” He shouted, turning away and facing towards the door. Joel placed his hands on his temples, trying not to get a headache.

Ellie sighed, speaking softly. “I’m not her, you know.”

“What?” Joel asked, turning back around.

“Maria told me about Sarah.” She replied. “And I-”

“Ellie.” He spoke sternly. “You are treading on some  _ mighty  _ fine ice here.”

“I’m sorry about your daughter, Joel, but I’ve lost people too.”

“You have no idea what loss is.” The man responded angrily.

“Everyone I have cared for has either died or left me.” Ellie pushed Joel back. “Everyone fucking- except for you two!” She yelled, tears welling up in her eyes. “So don’t tell me that I would be safer with Tommy, because the truth is- I’d just be more scared.”

Joel sighed coldly. “You’re right. You’re not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain’t your dad, and we are going our separate ways.”

The door kicked open before Ellie could get another word out, Elva and Tommy standing on the other side, rifles in hand.

“We’re not alone.” Elva spoke, spotting the young girl’s red face. Ellie walked to the woman solemnly. “What the fuck did you do?” She asked Joel.

Tommy shook his head. “We need to move.”

Joel looked out the window, seeing a few bandits entering the area. “I got two walking in.” He stated.

“There’s more inside already.” Tommy replied.

Ellie stayed near Elva, her face in a frown. They took cover, guns loaded and ready to fight on the other side of the door.

★★★★★


	25. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **FALL: ADIOS  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The hunters began making their way through the upstairs hallway. Joel immediately moved down and took cover behind a fallen desk. Elva hid behind the bathroom door as she reloaded her handgun.

Joel quickly snapped the neck of one of the hunters that had approached him, ducking back down into another bedroom after. 

Elva took down another one with her bow, trying to make as little noise as she could as they killed the hunters.

A smoke bomb was thrown at the stairs as Tommy approached, completely destroying their ability to see. Elva waved Ellie backwards, letting the young girl stay behind her for cover.

One of the hunters came up the stairs, only to be met with a few punches from Tommy before his head was smashed into the wall.

They walked into the kitchen, Elva taking down one of the hunters with her handgun as fast as she could. The element of silence and surprise was gone, they had to resort to whatever they could use.

Joel took down the other hunter that had run in with a machete he had picked up, slicing the man’s neck straight off.

“House is clear.” He yelled.

“Let’s get back to the horses.” Tommy replied.

Ellie still stayed beside Elva as they left the ranch house. Joel still held his shotgun in his hands, scouting the area for any more bandits. None remained. “It’s clear.” He spoke.

Tommy exited the house alongside Elva and Ellie. The young girl’s face was still solemn and red, disappointed at the conversation that had taken place minutes before.

“You want a hand up?” Tommy asked her as she unhitched her horse.

“I got it.” Ellie replied, mounting it.

The others got on their horses, Joel and Elva riding together again. The two trailed behind Tommy and Ellie a bit.

“So, you gonna tell me what happened?” Elva asked, leading her horse down the bush-ridden trail.

Joel shook his head. “Later.”

She nodded. “Whatever you say.”

★★★★★

The trees cleared up after a while of riding, showing a beautiful settlement. Jackson.

At the edge of a large cliff, they stopped. Looking at the view as the sun set behind the mountains. The sky had turned into a gorgeous orange color above the town.

“There she is.” Tommy exclaimed admirably. “Kids’ll be watching movies tonight.”

Joel sighed, turning to his brother. “Where is this lab of theirs?”

“It’s all the way out- University of Eastern Colorado.”

_ So they did change locations.  _ Elva thought.

“Go Big Horns.” Joel chuckled. He turned to Ellie. “Get off your horse, I’ll take it.” He spoke. “I’m gonna hang on this fella, if that’s alright with you.”

Tommy nodded. “Take those two.” He said, pointing towards the horse that Elva was on and the horse that Joel was on. 

Ellie was too stunned to move. “C’mon.” Elva spoke.

“What are you doing?” Tommy asked.

“Your wife kinda scares me, I don’t want her coming after me.” He lied. Well, it was a half-lie. Joel was quite scared of Maria, as was everyone.

The young girl jumped off of her horse, letting Joel dismount Elva’s and take ahold of the reins.

Ellie looked towards Tommy. “Sorry for stealing your horse.” She apologized.

He nodded, looking back towards Joel and Elva. “Look, come back to town, let’s discuss it at least.”

“You know me, my mind’s all made up.” Joel smirked. “University of Eastern Colorado, how do we find this lab?” He asked.

“It’s in the science building, looks like a giant mirror.” Tommy replied. “You can’t miss it.”

Elva nodded. “Good.”

Joel sighed. “You take care of that wife of yours.”

“There’s a place for you two here, you know.” Tommy nodded.

Elva pulled Ellie up onto the back of her horse, letting her sit where Joel once was.

“You good?” Joel asked Ellie.

She nodded with content. “I’m good.”

Elva looked to Tommy. “I’ll see you in another twenty years.” She smiled sarcastically.

“Don’t make it too long, I’m sure Maria’s expecting some stories.” He grinned.

She pulled the horse away, making her way down the path as Joel and Tommy said their goodbyes.

“Adios, little brother.” Joel smiled.

★★★★★


	26. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **FALL: THEY'VE ALL LEFT  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A while had passed since Jackson. Ellie, Elva and Joel had a routine by then. They’d find some sort of base they could sleep at, take shifts when sleeping, and get up bright and early in the morning and continue riding.

Ellie switched on who she rode with depending on who she wanted to talk to that day. It was a system. They had a perfect routine.

Joel talked to Ellie as they finally approached the University of Eastern Colorado, well, it was the campus. Elva smiled as they talked together on the other horse.

“-let me see if I get it straight, if you mess up your fourth down, then you give the ball to the other team?” Ellie asked. He was teaching her about basketball, of course.

“Right, it’s called turnover.” Joel confirmed.

“And if you clear the ten yards then you’re back at…” Ellie paused. “First down?”

“First down, that’s right.” He smiled.

“Man, it’s confusing!” Ellie exclaimed, looking towards Elva, who was riding on the other horse. “Did you play any sports when you were my age?” She asked.

Elva smiled, shaking her head. “Not really, I was more of an academics kid. But, I did play tennis with my sister sometimes.”

“What was your sister’s name?” Ellie asked.

“Mia.” Elva spoke, much quieter than before as they made their way through the roads towards the university. “I lost touch with her a long time before the outbreak. Never knew where she went.” The woman shrugged.

“Wow. I wonder if she’s still alive.”

“Ellie.” Joel warned.

“No, no it’s fine.” Elva smiled. She was happy that she got to talk to someone about it, even if it was a man her age and a teenage girl. “I hope she’s alive somewhere, but she could’ve gotten caught up with the government. Lots didn’t make it.” She sighed.

“Maybe after this we should try to find her.” Ellie offered. “Of course, after you teach me how to play the guitar.” She grinned towards Joel.

The letters _UFC_ were engraved into the brick walls surrounding the road, notifying the group that they had made it to their destination. Old homecoming banners were draped over the walls of the campus, reminding Elva and Joel of a simpler time.

“Okay, none of these buildings look like a mirror to me.” Ellie exclaimed. They were walking through a few green patches, where the red leaves of the trees had fallen onto the ground.

“We’ll head to central grounds.” Joel replied. “We should be able to see most of the campus from there.”

Ellie nodded, still holding onto Joel’s backpack. Elva watched them with a small smile on her face. She only knew a small portion of what happened at the ranch house, Joel had pulled her aside on one of the trails and told her, but she was happy to see them bonding again.

He had a soft spot for the young girl, it was obvious. Elva just hoped that once the whole Firefly situation was over, they would be happy together. Maybe even with the woman, too.

Joel stopped at an impasse, jumping off of his horse. “Stay, Callus.” He spoke to the horse. “What kind of name is Callus anyway?”

“Not my fault you forgot to ask Tommy for his name.” Ellie shrugged.

“At least yours isn’t Liam Neighson.” Elva laughed.

“What?” Ellie smirked. “The one movie I’ve ever watched had him in it.”

“What was it?” Joel asked.

Ellie thought for a moment. “Sky Battle or something? I don’t know, it was a _long_ time ago.” She replied.

“Do you mean _Star Wars?_ ” Elva inquired.

“Yeah!” Ellie exclaimed. “That’s it.”

Joel laughed. “Dear lord. Sky Battle.”

“I’m sure Tommy has some of those movies.” Elva stated. “He seems like the _Star Wars_ kinda guy.” She assumed. “When we get back, we should watch some of them.”

Ellie nodded as Joel got back onto Callus, the group riding back to the center of the campus again. It was oddly quiet. Too quiet. At least, it was too quiet for Joel.

They rode up an old car ramp and through one of the buildings, and luckily enough for Elva, she found something _amazing._

“Look at this!” She exclaimed, holding up a flamethrower in her arms. “God, I didn’t know the Fireflies could get this jacked up here.” She smiled.

Joel looked over at her, cracking the smallest smile. “Be careful with that thing.”

“Joel Miller, after all the years we spent together, I feel _hurt_ that you would assume I don’t know how to use something as cool as this.” Elva sarcastically replied, placing the flamethrower in one of her long gun holsters.

Ellie began talking again as Joel and Elva inspected the garage. “So, these places, people would live here and just study?” She asked. “Even though they were all grown up?”

Joel nodded. “Yeah, study, party, and find themselves. Figure out what they wanted to do with their lives.” He replied.

“You had partying at yours?” Elva smiled. “Jesus, I couldn’t even get an ounce of booze at mine. Had to drive like thirty minutes just to get to a liquor store.”

“Well, you went to a pretentious medical school.” Joel started. “You don’t get that kind of schooling with a bar next door.”

Elva stuck her tongue out at him playfully, something in her had just loosened up over the months the group had been together. Maybe it was being with Ellie, maybe it was seeing Joel everyday like it was old times again, but something definitely changed.

Joel ran up the stairs and onto another balcony as Elva got back on her horse and waited for him with Ellie. He spotted an old sniper’s log, an alcohol bottle and a bag of chips.

“Therewas a lookout here.” He yelled down to the others.

“That’s a good sign.” Ellie replied.

_‘8/29: Nothing. Didn’t they say people were coming? What’s the point of being out here if nothing happens?’_

_‘9/1: Still nothing. Marlene’s doctor friend from FEDRA is supposed to be coming in, but somehow I doubt she’ll make it. Apparently something bigger is happening.’_

_‘9/14: 5 new recruits from the Chicago Q.Z. IN. Hah, finally. One of ‘em gave me a pack of smokes for “doing a good job” sweet!’_

_‘10/5: 6 guys from H.Q. IN. Takes 6 guys to deliver one truck? Must be worse out there than I remember. Supply delivery from H.Q. IN. BTW; snagged two apples from one of the crates. Left you one, enjoy.’_

_‘10/31: 10 million werewolves IN. Let ‘em in just for you, Andrea. Happy Halloween!’_

_‘11/5: Recon went to scavenge supplies from town. OUT. Recon returned. IN. Roger yelled at me for sleeping… Prick.’_

_‘12/20: 1_ _scientist_ _biologist from San Francisco IN. Guy’s a real asshole. Watch out for him. 3 new recruits as escort IN. At least they wished me a Merry X-mas. Didn’t feel like telling them I was Jewish.’_

_‘2/22: 10 crates from UT hospital (it's a lot of lab stuff) IN. 4 veterans wrangling supplies. OUT. Lot more mouths to feed with all those scientists.’_

_‘3/4: 2 veterans who left back in February. IN. Supply dump from Dallas Q.Z. IN. Holy shit! We got chicken! You better call me over as soon as they serve dinner.’_

_‘4/21: 12 veterans to Boston Q.Z. OUT. Wished ‘em luck.’_

_‘6/12: 3 doctors OUT. No idea why they left. 2 recruits OUT. John said something about “scouting”, but for what?’_

_‘8/20: 4 10-ton trucks and a flatbed IN. 1 personnel carrier truck IN. 2 veteran drivers IN. 4 recruit drivers IN. New blond guy was giving me eyes, I hope he sticks around. BTW; what’s with all the commotion? Is anyone going to tell us what’s going on?’_

The most recent note must have been due to Ellie. Or at least, that’s what Joel assumed it was about. Having the first immune person had to have been a big deal.

He made his way back down to the garage, meeting back up with Elva and Ellie. They were mid-conversation when he got onto his horse, sitting in front of Ellie again.

“-you’re serious?” The young girl asked Elva.

“One _hundred_ percent.” She smiled.

“What’re you two talkin’ about?” Joel asked.

“Elva didn’t have her first kiss until she was twenty.”

“I told you to keep that between us!” The older woman smirked playfully as she joked along with the young girl.

Joel rolled his eyes, letting the horse continue walking around the campus. “That’s what bein’ a nerd will do to ya’.” He chuckled.

“Oh, shut up!” Elva smiled.

They came across another large, brick building, the mascot of the school spray-painted across the exterior wall. It was a piece of art frozen in time.

“Ooh… It’s getting chilly.” Ellie remarked, hugging her sweater closer to her stomach.

“It’s that time of year.” Joel replied.

“We’ll have to find you a coat somewhere after this, maybe they have a few shops in Jackson.” Elva smiled.

“Can I get one of those big puffy ones? I wanna look like those old-timey Sumo Wrestlers.” Ellie asked.

Joel chuckled at the girl’s wishes. “Yeah, sure.”

The horses’ feet clicked against the side deck they were riding atop of, yet they were muffled from the mass amounts of moss and greenery that had grown over the brick tiles.

“How many people do you think are there?” Ellie asked. “Fireflies, I mean.”

Joel thought for a moment. “I reckon it takes quite a crew to run that operation.”

“You think there’ll be other people my age?”

“They are starting to recruit pretty young.” Elva exclaimed. “Maybe.”

Entering a large building, Joel stepped off of his horse, opening a large door. The horses began to make noises, kicking up off of the ground.

Joel turned back around to face the horses. “What is it, boy?” He asked.

“Sounds like runners.” Elva stated, jumping off of her horse.

“Stay with Callus.” Joel instructed Ellie. “We’ll go check it out.”

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“Yes.” Joel nodded. “I don’t want him runnin’ off.”

“We’ll be right back.” Elva promised, following Joel out through the gate and into a larger portion of the building. The wailing sounds continued as the two made it through the room, spotting an electrical-powered gate on the other side.

“Looks like someone jerry-rigged this thing.” Joel stated, looking at the generator wire that went all the way above the wall towards the upstairs.

“Maybe we can get the power back on.” Elva replied.

They began walking upstairs, trying to find the generator the gate was hooked up to. It became dark inside the halls quickly, and Joel could just barely make out his partner as they spotted infected down the way.

Elva took the first runner down, grasping it from behind and pulling it to the ground slowly. Joel walked over to a larger room, too many infected to count inside. He tossed a bomb towards them, sending body chunks and blood flying across the walls.

“How many was that, six?” Elva whispered.

Joel nodded. “I think that’s all of ‘em.”

Both of them stood up from their former crouched positions, spotting the generator on the other side of the room. Elva held up her gun in case more infected came, Joel pulling on the power cord and trying to get the place back to life.

The power source began a low rumble, signifying that the gate could probably be opened again. Joel and Elva met back with Ellie downstairs, hopping on their horses and continuing through the building.

“Hey, I was thinking that I would’ve wanted to be an astronaut.” Ellie exclaimed, scooting back on the horse saddle and letting Joel sit in the front.

“Is that a fact?” He smirked.

“Yeah, could you imagine being up there all by yourself? It would’ve been cool.” Ellie stated, stars in her eyes. “What about you guys? What’d you want to be?”

Elva smiled. “A doctor.”

“Psh- that’s _boring_. What did you want to be when you were like, six?”

“I don’t know.” The woman shrugged. “Probably a princess or something.” Ellie looked at her, a mix of confusion and amusement on her face. “What? I wanted to be rich and be a world leader.”

“That sounds cool. But a _princess?_ Yuck.” Ellie snickered. “What about you, Joel?”

“Well, when I was a kid I used to want to be…” He paused, waiting for the laughter to come from the younger girl. “A singer.”

And there it was. Ellie burst out into laughter. “Shut up.” She spoke playfully.

“I’m serious.”

“Sing something.” Ellie demanded.

“Ah, no.”

“Do it!” Elva smirked.

“Not you, too…”

“We won’t laugh, promise.” The older woman grinned widely, honestly wanting to hear the man sing.

“I don’t think so.”

The gate opened in the building and everyone got on their horses, travelling down through the campus again. Large noises came from below the staircase they were on, and Ellie poked her head out from Joel’s side, watching as a few animals scurried away.

“Aww.” She exclaimed. “Are those monkeys?”

“Looks like it.” Elva replied.

“That was kind of awesome.”

Joel smiled. “First time seeing a monkey?” He asked.

“First time seeing a monkey.” Ellie confirmed, nodding.

They rode around for a while longer, ducking through tunnels and jumping over fences of all kinds. The place looked completely deserted.

Ellie looked around. “Should we have seen someone by now?”

“Uh- maybe these guys like to keep a low profile.” Joel replied.

Elva went along with it, still quite worried. It was unusual to see nobody, not even a sniper or a lookout patrol. “Yeah, knowing the Fireflies, they probably tried to make it look completely inhabited.”

“Hey, look!” Ellie pointed to a large graffiti on one of the building walls. “Fireflies.”

“That’s good.” Elva smiled. “We have a sign of them.”

They came across a large tunnel, blocked off by an electrical gate. It was completely metal, and a message was graffitied onto the wall next to it. It said: _‘Disconnect generator when not on duty’_. Joel only hoped it was the Fireflies.

“Alright, let’s try that gate.” He exclaimed, jumping off of the horse.

The young teenager pointed to a large building in the distance as she got off of Callus with Joel. The light was reflecting off of it, and it looked like a complete change from the surrounding campus structures. “There it is.” She spoke.

Elva looked at it, they were _so_ close.

“This won’t budge.” Ellie exclaimed, trying to pull up the gate.

“Looks like they rigged this up as well.” Joel stated, looking at the yellow wire on the other side. He crouched down, trying to see if it was connected to anything.

“Hey, there’s a generator over there.” Elva replied. She looked over to the door in the tunnel, the word _Dormitory_ on a sign just above it.

They walked in one by one, crouching down underneath a large chunk of debris. An old UEC map was on the reception desk, probably left by Fireflies.

As they walked up the stairs, their vision became clouded, only meaning one thing.

“Spores.” Joel whispered, both him and Elva pulling on their gas masks. The former was quite worried, not knowing why they’d have so many signs of infection in the campus area.

It was too late to think about that, as both of the adults jumped down into another area, clickers feasting in the nest-like area.

They carefully snuck around the many infected, trying not to make any noise. Elva and Joel stayed close together, trying not to split up.

The walls were covered with infection, the trace of the spores becoming obvious. Trying not to kill any of the clickers, they continued sneaking through. Elva didn’t want to make any noise, and frankly, neither did Joel, so they stayed quiet and didn’t attack any of the infected looming around the downstairs dormitories.

“Shit, is that a bloater?” Elva whispered towards her partner.

Around the corner, low and behold, was a much larger infected. The two partners took out the surrounding clickers, trying to make sure they wouldn’t have any _other_ issues whilst trying to get past the bloater.

As Elva got a better look at it, she realized that it was _almost_ a bloater, and it looked more like a clicker in its features. It didn’t matter as Joel grabbed her arm, pushing down the door on the other end with a loud noise.

Joel _just_ managed to barricade the door behind them with a stray vending machine, watching from the door window as the bloater slammed itself against it a few times.

“That was too close.” Joel exclaimed.

“Better than being dead.” Elva replied, smirking.

They continued down the university dormitories, looking for a way back to Ellie and towards the generator. It was a mess of beds, notes from students, snacks and cigarette packs, it was barely navigable.

Nevertheless, Joel and Elva made it out, down the stairs from a doorway and out into the open again. Ellie yelled towards them, her voice echoing. “Are you guys okay?” She yelled the question out. “What happened in there?”

“Just more infected!” Elva replied.

“We’re fine.” Joel sighed.

They looked to the side, seeing the gate from before and Ellie on the other side. “Here, come open the gate.” She spoke.

Elva found the generator, pushing it over to the cord and letting Joel plug it in. He pulled against it a few times, letting it begin a steady rumble as the gate began to open.

Ellie hopped onto her horse again, taking the reins of Elva’s horse and pulling him along, too. She stopped in front of the two adults, letting Joel get on in front of her and Elva get on the other horse.

“Those clickers…” Ellie began. “Do you think they were Fireflies?”

“No, no, I don’t think so.” Joel replied, trying to be reassuring to the girl as they galloped along the mess of yellow and red leaves.

“Why would they have infected so close to the lab?”

“People like Bill use them as a form of defense.” Elva shrugged. “Maybe they’re doing the same thing.”

Ellie looked towards the ground. “Yeah, I could see that.”

The science building grounds were completely deserted, just like the rest of the UEC campus. It was just the flowing trees, the overgrown plants, and a few old mascot signs littered around the pavement.

“No guards, no nothing.” Ellie exclaimed.

“I’d expect to see someone by now.” Joel responded.

“Let’s just get inside.” Elva smiled, trying to make light of the conversation and stay hopeful. “They’ll be there.”

Ellie looked around at the buildings. “Did you guys ever go to these?”

“What? A university?” Elva asked.

“Yeah.”

“I did. Medical school, it was a pain in the ass.” She laughed. “What about you, Joel?”

Elva already knew the answer, Joel knew that. For the year they had been together after Outbreak Day, both of them were restless. They’d talk about their lives before it all went to shit whilst Tommy was getting sleep. Everything was up in the air, but for Ellie’s sake, Elva wanted them to bond.

“No.” Joel replied. “Not as a student, at least.”

“Why not?” Ellie asked.

“Uh- I had Sarah when I was pretty young.”

“Oh… were you married?”

“For a while.”

“What happened?”

Joel sighed. “Okay.”

Ellie winced. “Too much?”

“Too much.” He nodded.

Elva looked towards Joel, smiling softly. He took it as a gesture to say to him that he did great. He knew that she wanted him to open up more to Ellie, even if she didn’t know when to stop before it got uncomfortable for him.

The sun set behind the buildings around them, creating a beautiful skyline to ride around under. “Are we ever gonna find living Fireflies?” Ellie asked, picking up one of the pendants on a crate nearby.

“We better.” Joel replied.

The younger teenager spotted a hole in one of the science building’s floors, pointing towards it. “Hey, what about over there?” She asked.

“That looks like it could work.” Elva nodded.

A large gate lay beneath it, but it was completely rusted to the ground. Joel jumped off of his horse, grasping a hold of a dumpster. The ramp was quite steep, causing the trash can to wheel down and crash open the gate.

“You alright down there?” Elva asked.

“Yeah!” He yelled. “Not what I had in mind, but it’ll do.” Joel murmured to himself.

Elva and Ellie rode down the ramp towards where he was, jumping off of their horses and trying to get a closer look at the large hole in the wall.

Joel slammed the dumpster against a large cargo truck below it, climbing up on top and into the building. “Alright, we’re inside.” He sighed with relief. He looked down below to Ellie as Elva climbed up. “C’mon, kiddo, gimme your hand.”

The younger girl hazed at the completely decimated room. “Let’s look around.”

The building went silent as they looked for any signs of life, coming up with nothing. It was completely deserted. The group of three tried not to give up hope as they scavenged around, kicking open doors and brushing dust off of shelving units.

“How will they do it?” Ellie asked as they walked through the halls.

Joel looked towards her. “Do what?”

“Get the cure from me?” She answered, catching Elva’s attention. “You think it’ll hurt?”

“No, no.” The woman replied. “They’ll probably just draw some blood.”

Ellie looked around the room they were in. “I’ve gotten shots before. They vaccinated us at school, it _sucked._ ” She continued looking out the windows, yelling loudly. “Yoo-hoo! Fireflies, cure for mankind over here! Anyone?”

Joel shushed her as he reloaded one of his guns. “Let’s try to keep it down until we figure out what’s going on.”

They walked over to a large stairwell, finding some Firefly equipment left over. Elva opened one of the backpacks, letting a few extra needles, medication, antibiotics, and bandages fall out. She filled her backpack with a bunch of the supplies, not knowing who- or what drove out the Fireflies.

“There isn’t anything here but a bunch of medical supplies.” Elva stated, standing up and looking around the deserted building.

“I don’t get it.” Ellie exclaimed.

“Looks like they all just packed up and left in a hurry.” Joel replied.

A large noise came from the stairwell above them, it sounded like metal crashing onto itself. Ellie looked over at the adults, a hopeful smile on her face.

“Maybe not all of ‘em.” She grinned.

The staircase was entirely made of metal, hurting the group’s feet even more than they were already. Walking for almost a year straight was really taking a toll on their bodies, but they pressed through anyway, climbing up the stairwell.

They walked out into another hallway, looking up and down the walls. “There aren’t any bodies, that’s good, right?” Ellie asked.

“If we can find out where they went.” Joel replied.

Elva grabbed more medical supplies off of the ground. It wouldn’t be enough to last more than a few days, but hopefully they wouldn’t be on the road for much longer.

They walked through another office-like area, tables and filing cabinets flipped over onto the ground. Ink stains littered the tiles, a few cans and pieces of paper scattered across the flooring.

A large noise echoed through the building. “Shit!” Elva swore.

“So, it’s probably clickers, right?” Ellie whispered.

“No…” Elva replied. “Clicker’s don’t hide. They’d already be here by now.” She spoke, ducking through another hallway covered in blankets. It must’ve been an old decontamination tunnel.

Joel opened another door while Ellie picked up an old fungal x-ray left on the ground. He walked into a room, spotting monkeys feasting on whatever trash they could find.

“Jesus…” He exclaimed.

“At least they aren’t clickers.” Elva breathed.

“Yeah…” Ellie spoke, walking around slowly and kicking her feet. “There’s no Fireflies either. Maybe in all that research they turned into fucking monkeys.”

“Just keep searching.” Joel replied hopefully. “We’ll find something.”

The problem was, there was nothing. Everything was completely deserted, left for someone to come and find a hundred years later. They walked through another door, forcing it open before managing to walk inside another room.

A corpse was hunched up on one of the chairs, a Firefly logo on his jacket. Joel picked up the tape recorder on the table next to it, playing through it. Ellie sat down on one of the chairs, spinning around. Elva looked to Joel, gazing through an old file of fungal x-rays and research.

“ _If you’re looking for the Fireflies, they’ve all left._ ” The recording called.

“Yeah, no shit.” Ellie sighed.

Joel began fast-forwarding through the tape. “ _I’m dead, or I will be soon. Got me some time to reflect-_ ” Fast forward. “ _-been years that felt like we were-_ ” Fast forward. “ _-fucking thing was a giant waste of ti-_ ” Fast forward. “ _-not gonna do this anymore._ ”

“Come on.” Joel spoke, irritated.

“ _-looking for the others, they’ve all returned to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, you’ll find them there, still trying to save the world_.” The man in the recording scoffed. “ _Good luck with that._ ”

“Holy shit.” Elva exclaimed, dropping the file. “The location I had was right, they moved there, not over here.” She stated.

Ellie stood up, alarmed. “How far away is it?”

“Like- maybe a thirty-day walk? I’m not too sure.” Elva replied.

“Fuck.” Joel swore. “On horseback-?” He stopped, noticing people through the window with flashlights coming into view.

“What?” Ellie asked, looking down at the ground and noticing the people. “Fireflies.”

“Those aren’t Fireflies.” Elva breathed. The flashlight pointed towards the group. “Get down!” The older woman yelled, ducking under the counter as Joel pulled Ellie down as well.

A bullet flew through the glass, _just_ missing them.

Those were definitely not Fireflies.

★★★★★


	27. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
**FALL: TELL ME WHAT TO DO  
**★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Ellie's heavy breathing was taking up the room, the break in the glass still showing from where the bullet entered. "Who the fuck are these guys?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter, we need to go." Elva exclaimed.

"We know where to go, let's get the hell outta here." Joel spoke.

They ran out from the room they were in, still crouching below the windows to avoid being seen. Elva grabbed a hold of another tape recorder, putting it in her pocket before running down the halls after the other two.

Joel looked behind him, doing a quick headcount before running down the stairwell they had come up from just minutes before. He had to make sure both of them were there, he couldn't continue without them.

One of the enemies ran into the room they were in, grasping onto an axe. He held it over Joel's head, only to fall down to the ground, blood pooling at his feet. Elva stood behind the body, holding a bloodied shiv in her hand.

He picked up the leftover axe, and shoved the blade through another hunter's head as he ran in. They were filing in by the second, if they wanted to make it out, they'd have to do it fast.

They continued to run as fast as they could down the halls. Ellie began shooting at some of the men down the way, letting Joel reload his handgun before taking aim. Ellie took down one, Elva took down two others, and Joel took down the remaining two hunters in the hall area.

"Holy shit." Ellie swore, continuing to follow Joel down the hospital. Each room blended into the other, it was hard to tell if they were even heading towards the exit or not.

Joel slammed the axe into another hunter's shoulder, pushing him to the ground and letting Elva shoot another one who had run in. Before another one could take a shot at the two adults, Ellie pulled the trigger on her gun, killing the hunter.

Finally, they made it to the stairwell, running down the steps and being greeted by two more hunters. Elva took out the first one, switching her handgun out for the shotgun that Bill had given her. Joel did the same, it was useless to use a far-distance gun with people running at them from all angles.

The two hunters fell to the ground, completely motionless as the three continued towards the balcony. Another hunter stood, waiting, with his gun out pointed at the door. Joel shot him dead with one of his scoped weapons, grabbing a few boxes of ammunition from the man's body.

Joel opened one of the balcony doors, only for it to be kicked open into his face. His nose in pain, one of the hunters grasped him. "Got you, asshole!" He yelled. They both fell off the balcony and onto the ground below, the hunter dying from the impact.

Searing pain bubbled through Joel's abdomen as a piece of rebar slammed through his stomach. Blood began pouring through his shirt as he swore in pain. His breath became ragged quickly, his head pounding.

"Joel?!" Elva yelled, using the generator cord to slide down to the ground. Ellie followed her, both of them running up to the hurt man. "Joel, Joel, Joel-" The older woman repeated.

"Move..." He grunted painfully.

"What-?"

"Move!" Joel yelled, shooting one of the hunters that had come in behind the others. He couldn't move anything. It hurt too much to move.

"Joel, Joel- I'm gonna need you to bear this, okay? We're gonna pull." Elva spoke, her voice wavering with fear and worry.

Elva managed to pull him off of the rebar, blood gushing out of the wound in his lower stomach. She winced at the sight. She was used to seeing things much worse, having worked in a hospital for most of her life, but seeing _Joel_ like this, her hands began shaking.

He stumbled as he stood, groaning in pain. "Joel, okay, c'mon, Ellie- get to the horse."

The young girl nodded, fear in her eyes as Elva carried the hurt man over through the rest of the hospital. Joel's vision began blurring, and he could barely make out the voices calling through his mind.

He watched as Ellie took down another one of the hunters, he watched as Elva's hands shook with fear, he had never seen her body shake. Joel's head began pounding, his heartbeat ringing through his ears.

Joel couldn't see, he was beginning to black out. Elva and Ellie took down another few hunters, but he had lost count. All he could smell was the metallic scent of blood as Elva carried him to Callus.

"Okay, Ellie, get on Liam." Elva instructed, hoisting Joel up onto Callus.

Night was closing in, the sky dark with the last light being sucked up from the sun. Elva sat behind Joel's barely conscious body as the two horses rode out of the city campus. Blood poured onto the saddle as snow began to fall onto the ground.

★★★★★

Snow was falling effortlessly to the road as they walked through the mess of cars, they finally made it out of campus.

"Are we safe?" Ellie asked, turning to Elva. She had never seen such fear in the woman's eyes before, and it scared her.

"I think so." She nodded.

Joel suddenly slumped off of the horse, his eyes fluttering shut as his whole body fell limp onto the road.

"Fuck, Joel!" Elva cried, sitting down on the ground beside him. "C'mon, Joel, please, please, please- wake up." She begged. "Please- for the love of God, _Joel please..._ "

Elva had never been as desperate as she had been in that moment, watching as life began to suck itself out of Joel. His face was desperately pale as the moonlight struck against his eyelids, snow falling onto his eyelashes.

" _Please._ "

★★★★★


	28. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
**WINTER: NAME’S DAVID  
**★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Elva watched as the gorgeous flakes of snow fell down outside of the window. It was a small hideout, an old garage in an abandoned home. But, it worked.

Ellie nudged Elva’s shoulder, looking down towards the unconscious man on the floor and back towards the older woman. “I’m gonna try and get some food, can you come in like fifteen minutes?” The young girl asked.

Elva nodded. “Sure, take the bow.” She spoke, handing it towards Ellie.

Over the course of the last month, Elva had taught the young teenager how to use a bow and arrow, and a few gun tricks. A bit of medical skills came from watching Elva help Joel, but they were running out of painkillers, fast.

“Oh- before I go.” Ellie smiled, handing Elva a little box.

“What’s this?”

“Happy birthday.” The young girl grinned, watching the adult open the small box and see her mother’s Firefly pendant. Elva teared up a bit, running her fingers over the lettering. “I thought you’d want it.”

Elva embraced Ellie, holding her tight. It was them against the world, at least, until they could get Joel back up and _alive_ again.

“Thank you, Ellie.” The woman exclaimed.

“I’ll see you in fifteen.” The girl nodded, pulling up the large metal door and slamming it behind her.

Elva sighed, sitting back down in a chair and sharpening a wooden stick. Joel was still sleeping on the ground, his breath straggled and broken up. Things felt different without him. It was lonely. Of course, the woman had Ellie, but she missed Joel with all of her heart.

“God, what the fuck happened?” Elva asked herself, slumping down in her chair. How did it come to this? Relying on rabbits to have food, giving everything she had to try and help Joel, and taking sleeping shifts with a fourteen-year-old.

She looked towards Joel, standing up from her chair and sitting on the ground next to his sleeping bag. Ever since the day he had almost died, she kicked herself for not being able to help him. She should’ve got more medical supplies, she should’ve been faster, she shouldn’t have let them get attacked.

It wasn’t her fault, but she believed it to be.

Elva looked at Joel’s smashed watch, turning back to her own. It had almost been fifteen minutes of her sitting in her own thoughts. She sighed, standing up and grabbing her hunting rifle, a handgun, an extra bow and a few packs of ammo.

She glanced at Joel, placing a hand over on his forehead and brushing the hair out of his eyes. Sighing, she stood up again, pulling up the garage door and shutting it behind her.

★★★★★

“Ellie?” Elva yelled, spotting the young girl through the mounds of snow. She pulled an arrow out of a rabbit, tying the rabbit onto Callus.

The young girl looked towards the older woman, who was riding on the other horse. “It won’t last very long. We need something else.” Ellie stated. Elva nodded, jumping off of her horse as a look of awe came over the younger girl’s face. “Look.” She whispered.

Alas, a deer was running through the snow and trees. They needed something like that, or else they weren’t gonna make it through the rest of the year.

“Tie up the horses, they’ll just startle it.” Elva instructed, placing the reins of her horse onto an old tree branch. Ellie nodded, doing the same.

They began tracking the deer, trying to be very quiet with their steps along the snow and rocks. Elva held out her own bow. Along their travels, they were lucky enough to have come across another bow, which was great for hunting.

A branch snapped a ways away, both Ellie and Elva turning their heads towards the deer that had run off. Snow was flying off where the deer had walked, and they began running towards it.

“Okay, take the first shot.” Elva instructed, standing behind a far piece of rock.

Ellie nodded, following the footprints of the deer for a few more feet before pulling her bowstring, shooting the deer and wounding it.

“Nice job.” The older woman smiled, standing up. The deer had spooked, which was an issue, but they followed the blood trail to get to it.

“This one’s tricky…” Elva whispered, placing an arrow against her bowstring and maneuvering her aim through the trees. Praying not to hit a branch, she released the arrow, letting it pierce a second shot through the deer. 

It ran off again, leaving the two girls to dodge through bushes and trees to try and get back on its path. Ellie still held her bow in her arms, and the blood trail went up towards another cliff.

Another branch broke underneath the deer’s feet, letting the two know where it had gone. The blood trail continued on for what seemed like forever, leaving Ellie to sigh. “How is it still alive?” She asked rhetorically.

They reached a fence propped up against two large cliffs, spotting a mining camp on the other side. It was burnt down, but it looked good enough for some form of shelter. At least, it would get them out of the cold.

“What is this place?” Ellie asked.

“I don’t know.” Elva replied, putting her bow back in her holster and taking a hold of her handgun. “But keep your eyes peeled.”

The blood trail followed into the building, reading back out into the main mining encampment area. There, in the snow, lay the deer, dead and limp on the ground.

A branch breaking nearby notified the two girls, and they both aimed their weapons towards the area it had come from. Ellie’s hands shook as she held onto the bow, pulling the string back with an arrow on it. Elva breathed out heavily, reloading her handgun.

“Who’s there?!” The older woman yelled. “Come out!”

Two men revealed themselves from behind a large generator. One had a straggled beard and a rifle behind his back, which was who Elva pointed her gun at. The other one looked younger and had a beanie on his head, and Ellie aimed her arrow right at him.

“Hello…” The bearded one spoke. “We just want to talk.”

“If you even take _one_ move, we put one right between your eyes.” Elva spat, glaring at the older-looking man across from her.

“Ditto for buddy-boy over there.” Ellie replied, motioning towards the younger man.

“What do you want?” Elva asked.

“My name’s David.” The man with the beard stated. “This here is my friend, James.” He introduced, pointing to the other man. “We’re from a larger group- women, children- we’re all very, very hungry.”

“So are we.” Elva lied.

“Women and children- all very hungry too.” Ellie went along.

David looked towards them, a begging look in his eyes. “Well- maybe we could trade you for some of that meat there.” He offered. “What do you need? Weapons? Ammo? Clothes-?”

“Medicine!” Elva blurted. “Do you have any antibiotics or painkillers?”

“We do, back at the camp.” David replied, taking a step forward and approaching the two girls. “You’re welcome to follow us-”

“Stop. Moving.” Elva demanded firmly. “We’re not following you anywhere.”

David complied, standing still in the snow. “Buddy-boy can go get it.” Ellie spoke, still pointing her arrow into James’ head. “He comes back with what we need, the deer is all yours.”

Elva glanced at the two men warily. “If _anyone_ else shows up-”

“You two put one right between our eyes.” David finished.

“Wow, you learn quickly.” Elva smirked sarcastically.

The older, bearded man turned to James, hand still on his gun strap. “Twq bottles of the penicillin and a syringe.” David instructed. “Make it fast.”

With a puzzled look in his eyes, James left.

Elva looked towards David, her gun still pointed at his forehead. “I’ll take that rifle off your hands.” She stated skeptically.

He nodded, placing it down on the ground beside the woman. Elva grabbed ahold of it, giving it to Ellie and continuing to hold her handgun at David. He walked back a few steps, hands still at his sides.

A long pause engulfed the three, the sounds of branches weaving in the wind and snow crunching underneath leaves falling being the only thing they could hear.

David looked around, breaking the silence. “He’s probably gonna be awhile.” He stated, looking between the two girls across from him. “Do you mind if we take some shelter from the cold?” He asked.

Ellie looked towards Elva, earning a curt nod from the adult. The young girl nodded towards the deer. “Bring him with us.” She demanded, reloading David’s rifle swiftly and pointing it at him.

He did as he was asked, pulling on the antlers of the dead deer and pulling it through the snow as they walked towards the mining camp, both girls still pointing their guns at the strange man’s head.

★★★★★

A hand-made fire was blazing on the floor of the building, the snow around it slowly melting due to the heat. David poked it a few more times, tending to it before letting it rage on itself.

Ellie stood a few feet away from him, still holding the rifle as she crouched down on her feet. Something felt _wrong_ about everything that had happened in the last hour. The sky looked cloudy, a snowstorm was coming, and Ellie tried to pay no mind to it.

The only thing that mattered now was getting the medicine back to Joel. Elva knew that, Ellie knew that, they all knew that. Elva stood near the door, looking outside at the snowy landscape before turning back towards Ellie and David. She held her handgun still, making sure not to let her own guard down.

David brushed his hands off, getting the soot and ash off of his palms. “You know, you really shouldn’t be hunting for your group with a kid.” He sighed, looking to Elva.

She shrugged, her upper lip still raised in a sneer at the man. “We can manage.”

“I see.” He spoke. “What’re your names?” He asked.

“Why?” Ellie rebutted aggressively. Elva placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. It’d all be worth it for the medicine.

“Look-” David sighed. “I understand it’s not easy to trust a couple of strangers.” He claimed. “Whoever’s hurt, you clearly care about _them_.” Elva let in a sharp intake of breath as he talked indirectly about Joel. “I’m sure it’s gonna be just fine.” He nodded.

“We’ll see.” Elva replied, the area becoming much warmer with the embers lighting up in the middle of the room.

Distantly, they could hear the cries of infected. Everyone stood up, looking through the half-boarded windows for any sign of life around them. If you could even call the infected living.

A clicker burst into the room, walking slowly through the snow. Everyone stayed still, trying not to alert the enemy. It clicked a few more times before making a wailing noise and running towards Ellie.

Elva took a shot at it, letting it fall back a bit. But, even one perfect headshot wasn’t enough. _Click_.

Her gun barrel was empty.

Another two shots were fired at the clicker, and it fell in a bloody mess on the floor.

Both Ellie and Elva looked to David, who held a revolver in his hand. The older woman looked towards him, a glare in her eyes. “You had another gun?” She asked.

“Sorry.” He smiled sheepishly, looking out the doorway towards where the clicker had come from. David held his hand out towards Ellie, who was still holding his gun. “Okay, I’d really like my rifle back now.” He stated.

“No.” Ellie replied. “You have your pistol.”

David sighed, running back to the doorway. “I hope you know how to use that thing.”

Elva sighed, looking at Ellie as she replied. “I’ve had some practice.”

★★★★★


	29. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
**WINTER: YOU'RE GONNA MAKE IT  
**★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

David shut the door into the mining camp, placing a tarp over the deer. Elva exchanged her empty handgun for her hunting rifle, reloading it and placing it against the boarded-up windows.

“No matter what, we have to keep them out.” David spoke.

“Ellie, cover the windows.” Elva instructed firmly.

Infected began pouring in through the tree line, running towards the group. The enemies began taking down the boards on the windows, only to get shot by either David, Ellie, or Elva.

“Make every shot count.” David muttered.

“She’s done this before.” Elva scowled at the man, not impressed at how he began telling the young girl what to do.

“You aren’t kidding.” He spoke, shooting another few infected. “She’s a better shot with that thing than I am.” He stated, making Ellie grin a bit.

Elva quickly spun around, shooting down a few infected that had broken in behind the others. Ellie helped her, making sure to kill one that had gotten in the other window.

After the coast was clear, David gripped onto a metal storage container. “Gimme a hand with this.” He instructed, beginning to pull it against the window.

The two others reluctantly obliged, helping him barricade one of the areas. A clicker grasped onto Ellie’s shoulders from the window, pulling her outside and trying to bite her neck to kill her.

Elva grabbed ahold of the clicker, letting David shoot it while she pried the young girl free from its grasp. Blood sprayed all over the three as Ellie grabbed out the hunting rifle again, reloading its barrel and taking aim once again.

So many bodies were dropping to the snowy floor, blood coating Ellie’s shoes as she wrangled off another runner. It was a graveyard, a _mass_ of bodies. A mix of clickers and runners together on the floor.

More and more infected came barreling into the safehouse, there were too many to count outside. There was no sign of them stopping.

“It’s no use!” Elva yelled. “We have to get out of here!”

“C’mon!” David replied, knocking down the back door. “This way.” He led.

They ran through the halls, walking up stairs only to be met with more runners trying to get in from the walls.

David fell behind the others, standing in the doorway. “I’ll block their path, cover the stairs!” He instructed.

As he began to push another metal shelving unit across the doorframe, Ellie and Elva took shots on shots at the incoming infected. They dropped to the ground like flies, but there was no sign of them stopping anytime soon.

The stairway became barricaded by David, and they made their way through the large mining camp. He opened up another door, leading the group into a larger, more open area.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Ellie asked.

“I’ve never set foot in this place.”

Elva swore under her breath. “Great fuckin’ news.” She spoke sarcastically.

“How you holdin’ up, kid?” David asked, running up through the top of the open room.

Ellie scoffed. “You don’t need to worry about me.” She replied, making Elva smile proudly. She had grown up to be a good teenager.

“Alright.” David nodded.

They jumped over a piece of debris, only for the chunk of metal underneath Ellie to come loose, sending her plummeting down to the floor.

“Ellie!” Elva yelled, looking down at the girl below them. “Are you alright?”

The girl groaned, sitting up from the concrete floor. “I’m fine…”

“Shit- more clickers!” David exclaimed. Elva looked to the side, seeing more infected coming after the two adults. “Get outta there!” He yelled to Ellie.

Against her better judgement, Elva ran with David through the metal platforms, trying to escape the rapid clicker sounds behind them.

She took a few shots at some of them, killing two clickers before David turned around at the other side of the wall. The bodies fell off of the railings, landing near where Ellie was.

The clicking finally stopped, and Elva only hoped that Ellie had taken down the infected below them. Both of the adults walked back to where she was, jumping down to her level and finding her again.

“Are you okay?” Elva asked, running over to her and holding onto her shoulders.

“Yeah- those things are fucking nasty.” She exclaimed, breathing heavily.

“C’mon- the door’s this way.” David instructed, leading the other two towards what they hoped was the exit out of the mining camp. “That ladder could work.” He stated, looking up at a ladder that was _just_ hanging out of reach.

“Here.” Ellie stated. “Boost me up.”

Elva nodded, pushing her back against the metal and cupping her hands together. Ellie’s snow cladded-boots pushed against her hands as she jumped up onto the platform, looking for access to the ladder.

“Keep a lookout for those things!” David yelled, referencing the infected.

“I know.” Ellie muttered.

The woman beside David held her handgun close, still not completely trustworthy of the man standing next to her. Elva was always a skeptical person, you had to be during the outbreak, but David gave her some bad gut feelings.

Loud clicking was heard before a groan and a collapse, notifying Elva and David that something was going on with Ellie.

“You alright?” David yelled.

“Yeah. It’s okay.” She replied, sending a wave of relief through Elva.

Ellie soon reached their view again, dropping down the ladder they saw earlier. David climbed up first, followed by Elva shortly behind. They made their way up to another platform, the door to another corridor showing itself.

“Through here.” David spoke.

Elva and Ellie ran through the debris in the hallway and into another area. “We need to find a way out of here.” Elva spoke quickly, hearing the wails of runners and clickers from outside the building.

“Yeah, no shit.” Ellie scoffed.

“Watch your tone.” Elva scolded her.

They walked up on a few piles of blood, ammo scattered across the floor. Dead bodies were lined up alongside a few sleeping bags.

“Geez.” Ellie exclaimed. “It looks like someone already fought these things and lost.”

David walked up to where the girls were. “Oh, lord, I’ve been lookin’ for these boys.” He sighed. “Doesn’t matter, grab their gear, I’m gonna look for an exit.”

Taking the open invitation, Ellie and Elva scavenged around for anything they could use to help Joel. The older woman found a few packs of ammunition and an old first aid kit, but half of it was already raided.

“Find anything?” Elva asked.

“Nothing but ammo shells and arrows.” Ellie replied, placing a few packs of supplies in her backpack before returning to where David stood.

“It’s a dead end.” He stated. “How on Earth did they use this building?”

“So what do we do?” Ellie asked.

“We hold our ground.”

“Is there any other choice.”

“We die.” Elva replied, her eyes cold as the sounds of infected crawled closer and closer to the windows. “Get ready.”

They looked over to the corridor, seeing the first signs of runners falling down and running towards them. Ellie exchanged her bow for her handgun, taking a few shots at the infected before it fell to the ground.

Elva took out her rifle, reloading it and taking a shot at the runner that had come in. The man on her side did the same, fending off three clickers that had entered.

More infected noises came from above, startling the group. “You hear that?” Ellie asked.

“They’re on the roof!” Elva yelled, watching as more and more crazed people flooded in through the windows. The woman took a shot at one of the clickers, letting Ellie run up to it while it was stunned and take a stab at it. The young girl still had her knife on her, which was proving to be quite useful.

Ellie picked up a pack of rifle ammunition. “Here!” She yelled, passing it towards Elva.

“Thanks!”

Three more runners came in through the side windows, a few clickers joining them from the roof area. David took down one of them, leaving Ellie to fend off the runners and Elva to shoot at the clickers.

The room was filled with groans and wails from the infected, the snow staining into red from the blood.

A few moments of silence passed, letting Elva take out her bow and quickly snipe one of the infected through the broken windows above.

Before David could get tackled by another runner, Ellie took it out with her knife, stabbing it in the neck and tossing it to the side.

Elva stood near the staircase to the left, holding out her rifle and shooting down the infected that tried to come up towards the others. It soon became a mass of bodies, blood spilling down the snow and concrete.

Ellie quickly reloaded her gun, shooting down two more runners. Elva ran out from the stairs, killing a clicker that had wriggled its way through the window.

An odd noise came through the roof, all three of the humans looking at each other. “That doesn’t sound good.” David spoke, watching as a larger infected crashed down from the ceiling.

“Shit! It’s a bloater!” Elva yelled, exchanging her rifle for a shotgun.

“A what?!” David asked.

“One of those big fucking guys!” Ellie exclaimed, avoiding the toxic bombs the infected through at them.

Elva threw a molotov at the bloater, letting everyone take as many shots as they could against the monster. Ellie continued shooting until her gun began to click, she was running out of ammo too quickly.

David was doing nothing against the bloater, he had a pistol, it wasn’t enough. He grabbed one of the bombs that his old team had left, chucking it at the infected.

It threw another acid bomb at the ground, narrowly missing Ellie. Elva threw one last molotov at it, letting it fall limp to the ground in a heap of acid and blood. Its charred skin and fungus was truly a gruesome sight to look at.

No more wailing echoed through the building, sending relief to wash through everyone’s bodies. “I think we did it.” David sighed.

“Like, we killed all of ‘em?” Ellie asked.

“Don’t sound so disappointed.” He smirked.

“Let’s just get the fuck out of here.” Elva exclaimed, breathing heavily.

They walked out onto the bridge-like corridor, looking out the windows. No signs of infected were anywhere in the snow.

“Listen.” David smiled.

“No infected.” Elva grinned.

“Alright, let’s head on back.” The man spoke, walking through the hallway. “Check on that buck of ours.

Elva hung back with Ellie, smiling at the young girl. “You did amazing.” The woman reassured, placing her hand on Ellie’s shoulder.

“Thanks.”

★★★★★

The fire was barely embers when they got back to the shack. David immediately walked over to it, poking it with a stick and trying to make it grow back alive again. He knelt down to the concrete ground, sitting across from Elva and Ellie.

“You two handled yourself pretty nicely back there.” David exclaimed. “I’d say we make a pretty good team.” He smiled, warming his hands up against the fire.

Ellie scoffed. “We got lucky.”

“Lucky? No- no such thing as luck.” David grinned. Something in Elva’s stomach began to churn at his smirk. She rested a hand on Ellie’s shoulder, trying to ground herself. It almost felt as if she was going to pass out. “No, you see, I believe that everything happens for a reason.”

“Fate?” Elva spoke mockingly, trying to ignore her sudden nausea.

“Fate.” David nodded. “And I can prove it to you.” He grinned again, making Elva even more sick. “Now, this winter has been especially cruel. A few weeks back I- ah- sent a group of men out to a nearby town to look for food.” He explained, his voice deepening. “Only a few came back, they said that the others had been slaughtered by a crazy man and woman. And get this;” He smirked. “These people were travelling with a little girl.” David pointed towards Ellie with his stick.

Elva’s insides churned with illness, she felt like she was going to throw up. The idea of eating a whole deer didn’t seem as good to her anymore. She felt Ellie’s body tense up beside her.

“You see?” David laughed. “Everything happens for a reason.”

Elva grabbed her rifle, picking it up and standing up. She dragged Ellie up with her, keeping her close. David only smiled, tending to the fire.

“You fucking scumbag.” Elva breathed, hearing her heartbeat pound in her ears as she shakily held up the gun to his head.

“Now, don’t get upset. It’s not your fault.” He smiled, looking towards the doorway behind the two girls. “James, lower the gun.”

Only then did they realize that the other man was standing beside them, aiming towards Elva’s head. “No way, David.” He bantered. “I’m not gonna let ‘em go.”

“Lower the gun.” He spoke insistently. Reluctantly, James lowered the gun, watching as David turned back to the fire. “Now give her the medicine.” He instructed, pointing to Elva.

James entered the mining camp, grabbing a bag of penicillin out of his pocket. “The others won’t be happy about this.” He claimed, watching as Elva ducked down for a moment to grab the medication.

Joel would be okay. She almost smiled at that.

Elva, still grasping onto the gun and Ellie, began inching towards the door. “Move the fuck out of the way.” She breathed, looking towards James. He complied, moving and letting Elva reach the door.

“You two won’t survive long out there.” David spoke, looking up at the girls. “I can protect you.” He offered.

“No, thanks.” Ellie replied.

They made a deadbolt for the door, Elva placing the gun in her holster and grabbing ahold of Ellie’s hand. The snow was too thick to run fast, but they could make it to the house before night.

Callus and Liam were still tied up, letting Elva and Ellie jump onto the horses. They rode off through the snow, escaping from David and James.

★★★★★

Elva opened the garage door, letting Ellie walk in before slamming it behind her. They saw Joel, still laying on the floor with a blanket over him. He was shaking profusely, his teeth chattering.

“Oh, Joel.” Elva exclaimed, pulling the penicillin out of her bag. “C’mon, c’mon.” She spoke, her voice wavering as he slipped in and out of consciousness. “Ellie, help me.”

The young girl had never heard such desperation in the woman’s voice before, so she obliged, pulling the blanket off of Joel.

“Move your arm.” Elva instructed softly, watching as the half-asleep Joel did what she asked. He was still in immense pain. He moved his arm off of his stomach wound, revealing almost infected stitches.

Joel’s breath staggered as Elva touched his stomach lightly, grabbing ahold of the penicillin syringe and slowly pushing it into his skin. He grunted in pain as it broke through, pouring the liquid into his wound.

“Fuck.” Elva swore, biting back the lump in her throat. “Can you grab me one of the disinfectant wipes I made?” She asked, her voice cracking.

Ellie nodded, grabbing one out of the jar they had made and letting the woman swipe it against his stomach. Joel shivered, his voice letting out groans and breaths.

Elva placed her hand on his forehead. “You’re gonna make it.” She smiled, trying to convince herself that it’d be true. She set down the spare mattress on the other side of Joel, letting Ellie collapse onto it.

The woman laid down on the concrete beside Joel, looking in his pained eyes as she tried to drift to sleep. Her stomach still churning with fear and nausea, Elva fell into unconsciousness.

★★★★★

Elva awoke with a start, a noise calling through the house. She jumped up, walking over to one of the old windows and spotting three men in the town.

“Fuck.” She breathed, walking over to Ellie. “Wake up, we have to go.”

The young girl jolted awake. “What?”

“David’s guys.” Elva spoke, a panicked look in her eyes. “They found us.”

★★★★★


	30. Chapter 30

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **WINTER: BY ANY MEANS  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Ellie grabbed her bag, reloading her gun and walking over to the garage door. Elva looked towards Joel, brushing his choppy hair off of his forehead.

“We’ll be back.” She smiled sadly, knowing that he could hear her.

The older woman grabbed her bag as well, pulling up the garage door and letting Ellie through before sliding under herself. The winter chill was harsh against their faces as they got onto their horses.

“-you even sure they’re here?” One of David’s men asked. They were standing directly on the street, leaving Ellie and Elva to duck down on their horses to the best of their ability.

“Man, there were horse tracks down the fucking street.” Another replied. “They’re here.”

Suddenly, a third hunter grabbed ahold of Ellie, trying to pull her off the horse. He began yelling, alerting the hunters on the street of the two girl’s presence. Elva jumped off of Liam, sliding across the snow and sending a shiv through his neck.

“What are you waiting for?” One of the hunters on the street yelled, gaining Ellie and Elva’s attention. “Shoot her!”

“But David said-”

“Fuck David, shoot her now!”

Gunshots narrowly missed Ellie and Elva as they rode through the deserted resort, avoiding cars and barbed wire to the best of their abilities. Hunters passed them, only to be kicked away by the snow kicking up from the horses’ feet.

The icy lake was almost visible as the hunters continued to yell. Elva stayed close beside Ellie, only for two shots to ring through the two horses’ bodies.

“Shit!” Elva yelled, trying to grasp onto Ellie as they fell down a rocky bank. They dusted themselves off quickly, gathering their bearings as the two dead horses fell limp to the snowy ground.

“They’re running for the cabins!” A hunter screamed.

“Ellie, grab my hand, run.” Elva instructed, holding her handgun with one hand and Ellie’s palm with another. They leaped in through a cabin window, taking refuge from the hunters as best as they could.

Walking through the house, Ellie grasped out David’s stolen rifle, crouching down to avoid the sight from the windows.

Elva led her out towards the porch, more of the hunter’s voices calling out. “Are we really killing them? David said he wants them alive.” One stated.

“He doesn’t get to make that call.” Another replied. “James told me it’s the couple from the university.” He explained. “How many of our guys were killed there?”

“Oh, shit. I didn’t know that was them.” The first one exclaimed. “Screw David, then. I ain’t taking a chance with this.”

Ellie pulled out her bow, Elva doing the same as they walked into a gazebo. The three hunters talking earlier stalked by the girls, their handguns raised in alert. Elva sniped the front one, letting Ellie take down the other one.

“Where do we go?” The young girl whispered.

“Let’s just try to get to the lakeside, we can figure out a plan from there.” Elva replied, sneaking through the bushes and back into the snowed road.

They walked behind a public bathroom, leaning back onto the road and trying to scope out any more hunters. Elva quickly sniped one of the enemies with her bow, letting Ellie take down the other one with her tactical knife.

Two more could be seen from the platform they were standing on, so they continued to walk across a rickety bridge on the other side. They were just above the lake, and they walked into a large pipe through the rocks.

“These will probably lead somewhere.” Elva stated, letting Ellie follow her closely as they crawled through more and more pipes. A piece of debris was placed inside the tube, causing the two girls to back out and try to find another way.

“Here.” Ellie exclaimed, pulling out a large trash can.

Elva laughed, helping her on the other side to push it to stop it from poking into the tunnel pipes. “You learn from the best.” She smiled, thinking back on the _many_ times Joel resorted to a trash can to continue their journey.

They walked back through the now clear pipe, spotting a large hunting lodge with a pathway out of the lakeside resort.

“That’s the way back.” Elva pointed towards it.

“Let’s go.” Ellie nodded.

Running through the balcony area, the two girls ducked behind an old minibar, avoiding the gaze of a hunter that was walking through. Elva shot him with her arrow, clearing Ellie to continue making her way over.

The young girl took out another one of David’s men with a chokehold, alerting the others of her presence. “Elva! Run!” She yelled.

They grasped onto each other’s hands, avoiding the gun fire that rang through the air as they made a dash for the hunting lodge.

Elva pushed a trash can against a lower part of the roof, spotting a large hole in the wall that they could jump into. Ellie landed softly beside her, crouching down immediately to avoid the gaze from the windows.

“Let’s not get trapped in here.” Elva whispered.

Ellie nodded, following the older woman’s lead through the hunting building. Corridor after corridor, it seemed like there was no way out.

A hunter’s voice rang through the building, causing Elva to grasp onto Ellie and pull her behind an old luggage cart. “They’re on this side of the lodge!” The enemy yelled, both of the girls pulling out their rifles and preparing to attack.

Elva shot down the first one, letting out a sigh of relief as they continued through the building. Two more attackers met them on their way, Ellie taking out one and Elva taking out the other.

“There’s the exit.” Ellie breathed, pointing towards a set of windowed French doors. The two girls ran over to it, only to be grabbed by David and James on the other side.

Elva squirmed, trying to grab onto Ellie. James only grasped onto her neck and mouth harder, completely knocking her out.

David’s voice was the last thing that ran through their heads. “Relax, I’m keeping you alive here.” Elva could just imagine his malicious grin on the other side of consciousness.

★★★★★

The older woman awoke with her head pounding. Her body laid on a harsh, concrete floor. It was nothing she wasn’t used to, but seeing the chain link fence across from her was quite odd. It separated her from James, who was using a large meat cleaver to chop up a human corpse.

She looked to her side, seeing Ellie in a separate cell. Elva tried to move her hands, only to see her wrists in cuffs. She sighed with relief as Ellie woke up, her hands free of any handcuffs.

Ellie glanced over to Elva, only to be met with the woman placing a finger against her chapped and ripped lips. The young girl watched as James cut off a hand from the corpse he had, letting out a small panicked noise.

The man on the other side of the fence noticed this, turning around to look at the fully awake girls before leaving the room.

“Elva, Elva we have to get out of here.” Ellie spoke, rattling the gate in front of her.

“Ellie-”

“We have to-!”

“Ellie.” Elva sternly stated, her voice dry from the lack of water she’d had in the last few weeks. “Just- stay calm, okay?”

Another presence made itself clear as David walked into the room, two trays of food balancing in his hands. “How are you two feeling?” He asked, his expression sickeningly dry for someone who had just kidnapped two girls.

Ellie was standing up, Elva, on the other hand, was still pressed against the wall, her ability to stand up was completely gone. She was too weak to do anything without her hands being unrestrained.

“Super.” Ellie scoffed sarcastically.

David pushed one of the trays into Ellie’s cage. “Here.” He exclaimed, pushing one into Elva’s as well. He knew fully well that her hands were still tied, and the woman could almost see the glint of malicity in his eyes. “You two should eat. I know you’re hungry- been out for quite some time.”

Elva looked at him dryly. “What is it? Deer with a human helping on the side?” She spat, pointing her head to the lifeless body on the counter.

“No, no.” David replied, smiling slightly. “It’s- it’s just deer meat.”

Ellie took no time eating the food, trying to quench her starvation. Elva had tried her best to get as much food as she could for the girl, but nothing was ever enough to feed the three of them. It was hard enough to get Joel to even eat the food in the first place.

“You’re a fucking animal.” Elva growled.

“Oh, you’re awfully quick to judge.” David tilted his head, looking towards the both of the girls. “Considering you two and your friend killed- how many men?”

Ellie gulped. “They didn’t give us a choice.”

“And you think we have a choice?” David asked. “Is that it? You kill to survive, and so do we. We have to take care of our own.” He sighed. “By any means necessary.”

“So, now what?” Ellie asked, finishing off the deer. “Are you gonna chop us up into tiny pieces?” She glared at the man across from her.

“I’d rather not.” David sighed. “I think I’ve gathered your name, from the weak begging you’ve given towards her.” He spoke, looking towards the older woman. “Elva, was it?”

Something about that man saying her name felt nauseating. “Fuck off.” She spat.

David chuckled a bit, turning to Ellie. “Please, tell me your name.”

Ellie paused, standing up and pushing her empty tray violently back towards the man across from her. “You’re so full of shit.” She replied, gripping onto the iron bars.

“On the contrary, I’ve been ah- quite honest with you two.” David spoke, standing up fully as well. “Now, I think it’s your turn. It’s the only way I’m gonna be able to convince the others.”

“Convince them of what, you dirtbag?” Elva sneered, her wrists pulling against the cuffs.

“That you can come around.” David smiled, looking towards Ellie. “You have heart, you’re loyal, and you’re special.”

David placed his hands onto Ellie’s, making Elva rattle against her restraints even more, trying to get back over to her. “And what about her?” Ellie asked, looking towards the older woman.

“Oh, well, if you join us- we’ll make her death a _lot_ less painful.”

With that, Ellie grabbed a hold of David’s finger, snapping it. It began to swell as he howled in pain, Ellie desperately grabbing through the bars for the keys attached to his belt.

He came back to light again, grasping her arm and pulling it through, slamming her body against the cell and stunning her. Elva continued to pull against her cuffs, her face contorted with anger towards the man.

“You stupid little girl.” David sneered. “You are making it very difficult to keep you and your friend alive.” He sighed. “What am I supposed to tell the others now?”

“Ellie.” The young girl replied.

“What?”

“Tell them that…” Her face turned into one of rage. “Ellie is the little girl that broke your fucking finger!” She yelled.

“How did you put it, hmm?” David smirked. “Tiny pieces?”

Dread filled both of the girl’s eyes, the color draining from their faces.

“I’ll see you two in the morning.”

★★★★★

Joel woke up with a gasp, sharply opening his eyes in the strange yet familiar surroundings of a garage. Bits and pieces of the past weeks were forming in his mind, but he couldn’t tell how long he had been out for.

He groaned, holding onto his stomach as he got up. There was no sign of anyone around. Joel tried to get onto his feet, collapsing back to the ground. He was successful on his third attempt as he tried not to rip his stitches.

“Elva?” He asked, looking across the garage. “Elva?!”

Joel grabbed a hold of his bag, crouching down and standing up with a grunt. He looked to the garage door, something in him realizing that something had gone wrong.

He had to find Elva. And fast.

★★★★★


	31. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **WINTER: I BELIEVE HIM  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Joel gripped onto his stomach as he reloaded his guns, noticing that Elva’s bow and arrows were nowhere to be seen. Ellie’s backpack was also completely gone, sending more and more panic signals through the man’s head.

“Where the hell are they?” He asked himself, groaning as he opened the garage door to the outside of the house. He stabilized himself on a wall, his vision still blurry.

The man realized that it was snowing softly, the ground coated in a thick layer of the white powder. How long had he been out for?

He continued walking down the road, still holding on tightly to his stitches. “Elva? Ellie?”

Getting no response, Joel sighed, his boots leaving thick footprints in the snow. A large creaking sound came from a few houses down, catching his attention. He ducked down as a bunch of strange men ran out from the road.

“Shit.” Joel swore, pulling out his scoped rifle.

He hid behind one of the deserted cars, waiting until the gunfire ceased on the other side before leaning out to the side, killing the man on one of the front porches. 

“Does David know he’s here?!” Joel overheard one of the men asking.

“No, call it in!” Another yelled. “He’ll prolly wanna keep him alive, he was with the other two chicks.”

Whoever ‘David’ was, Joel was certain that he had Elva and Ellie.

He quickly took a hold of his handgun, ducking behind another one of the broken fences and shooting down a hunter. Another one poked his head out from a hole in the fence, letting Joel pull out his scoped rifle and take a headshot.

Hearing the gunshots, the hunters pushed towards the hurt man, running through the dead bodies of their accomplices. Joel gripped onto his stomach every moment that he could, attempting not to rip his stitches as he took down another hunter with his handgun.

Joel jumped out the other side of a fence, only to be grasped onto by an enemy. “Got you, asshole.” He growled, holding the injured man in a chokehold.

Another hunter walked over, a knife in his hand. “Hold him still!” He yelled.

The smuggler quickly kicked the man holding the knife in the crotch, turning around and headbutting the man holding him. Joel smashed his head into the wall, blood splattering everywhere as he walked over to the fallen man.

Joel grabbed a hold of the two unconscious men, dragging them into another one of the lodge’s houses. He pulled them through the kitchen, and into the basement. Quickly, he tied them up, one to a chair, the other against a wall.

The cannibal in the chair had a table sitting across from him, a small sized-knife on it. A loose pipe was also on the floor. He was facing away from his companion, who was being dealt blows to the face by Joel.

“What do you want?” The hunter asked, a pained tone in his voice as Joel repeatedly struck him. “What the fuck-?” His face bled as Joel stopped, holding onto his stomach.

“You wait here.” He grunted, walking over to the man tied to the chair. He grabbed the knife off of the table and sat down on a chair across from the cannibal. “Now, the girls, are they alive?” He asked.

“What girls?” The hunter asked, a nervous look on his face. “I don’t know no girls.”

He let out a large shriek of pain as Joel stabbed the knife into his knee, still gripping onto the handle.

“Focus right here.” The smuggler demanded, slapping the hunter’s face. “Right here, or I’ll pop your goddamn knee off.” The tied up man nodded profusely, looking into Joel’s eyes as he trembled with fear. “The girls.”

“The young one’s alive, she’s David’s newest pet.”

“What about the other one?” Joel growled.

“She probably won’t last that long-”

Joel slapped him across the face again, rage pouring through his eyes. “Where?” He asked, twisting the knife further into the cannibal's knee.

“In the town!” He cried out. “In the town.”

The smuggler glared into the hunter’s eyes, forcing the knife out of his knee. The man cried out as Joel shoved the hilt of the blade in his knife, grabbing out a map of the lakeside resort.

He held it up to the man’s face, just inches from the tip of the bloodied blade. “Now, you’re gonna mark it on the map. And it better be the same exact spot your buddy points to.” He growled. “Mark it.”

The man trembled with fear as he leant his face forward, dabbing the blood onto a place on the map. “It’s right there, you can verify it!” He yelled as Joel placed the map back in his backpack. “Go ask him, go on, he’ll tell ya.” 

Joel stood up, walking around to the other side of the cannibal. Ignoring his pleas, Joel wrapped his arm around his neck, placing him in a chokehold. After a few seconds, he snapped his neck, killing the hunter.

The chair fell backwards on the floor, revealing the other hunter on the ground. He looked towards the smuggler, fear and rage in his eyes as he fidgeted from his restraints. “Fuck you, man!” He yelled. “He told you what you wanted, I ain’t tellin’ you shit!”

Joel picked up the pipe on the floor, tossing it a few times in his hands before raising it above his head. “That’s alright, I believe him.”

★★★★★

Elva awoke in the cage, dried blood on her face. She sat up, her mouth tied with what used to be a chloroform cloth. Ellie was laying down in the other fenced cage, still asleep as David and James walked into the room.

James began to pick Ellie up, resorting in Elva’s muffled yells against him. She tried to yell at him to stop, but all that came out was small noises.

The man smiled maliciously at her, turning back to the younger girl. “Wakey, wakey, come on.” 

Ellie woke up, seeing Elva desperately squirming in her restraints. “Let go!” The young girl yelled, resisting against James’ grip.

David jumped into the room, grabbing a hold of Ellie’s shoulder. She suddenly bit David’s hand as she looked back towards Elva. The older woman continued to try to cough out the cloth around her mouth, but nothing was working.

The older man winced as he looked at his hand, bitten and bleeding. He kneed Ellie in the stomach, causing her to yelp out in pain as she was pulled onto a table and her arms were restrained.

Elva continued to yell, the blood on her face mixing with sweat and worry. She wasn’t going to lose Ellie, she couldn’t lose Ellie.

David picked up a meat cleaver, frowning. “I warned you.”

“I’m infected!” The young girl yelled. “I’m infected!”

The older man grinned, amused. “Really?!”

“And so are you!” Ellie yelled. She tugged on her right arm. “Right there, roll up my sleeve!” She stared at him. “Look at it!”

“I’ll bite.” David spoke to James, stabbing the cleaver into the table. He rolled up Ellie’s sleeve, looking at the bite mark that had been on her arm for the last year and a half. Elva’s breath caught in her throat, she doubted it would stop them.

“What’d you say?” Ellie asked. “Everything happens for a reason, right?”

James let go of her arm, a bewildered look on his face. “What the hell is that?” He asked, trembling as he pointed towards her bite.

“She would’ve turned by now, it can’t be real.” David claimed.

With that, Ellie grabbed the meat cleaver, slamming it into James’ neck. She rolled off the table, grabbing a stray gun that was on the floor and hitting it against David’s head, sending him to the ground.

She picked up the cage keys, shakily running over to Elva and letting her out. Ellie pulled off her muffle and broke the handcuffs.

“Let’s go, El’!” The older woman yelled, watching as David began to stand up again. The two made a break for the exit.

The older man began firing shots at them, watching as they narrowly avoided each bullet that came towards them. Elva held onto Ellie’s hand, hiding behind a wall. 

Ellie spotted her tactical knife on a shelving unit, taking a hold of it and handing Elva the gun she had picked up.

“Through there.” The older woman breathed, looking at a window across from. David stood through the door frame, walking forward and trying to get closer.

The two girls jumped out through the open window and into the snow. It was life or death, now.

★★★★★


	32. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **WINTER: IT'S ME  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The blizzard was unforgiving, tearing at Ellie and Elva. Their skin turned red as they hit the harsh cold, snow flying at them. They could barely see more than ten feet ahead of them, making them stay close together.

“What the fuck is wrong with these people?” Ellie asked, gripping onto her switchblade.

“People’ll do crazy things to survive.” Elva breathed, her hair and clothes becoming white with snow.

Another gunshot sounded, piercing one of the buildings around them. “Where are you going, girls? This is my town!” David’s voice called out.

They opened the door to a small restaurant-like building, looking around for something that Ellie could use that wasn’t a blade.

The blood on their faces mixed with the cold snow as they made their way through the store, hiding behind the shelving units. The voices of David and a few of his accomplices rang from outside.

“We heard gunshots!” One yelled.

“Infected!” David replied.

“What?”

“The girl, she’s infected and she got the woman out.”

“This is bad, David!” Another hunter called.

The leader sighed. “I need you to round up everyone who isn’t armed and get ‘em to clear outta here.” He instructed. “We’re gonna find those girls and we’re gonna kill them.”

“I’ll take the kids to the shelter.” The female hunter replied.

Wind rapped against the windows, making Elva and Ellie jump. They stuck close to each other, jumping out of a broken window and back into the blizzardous conditions.

Making their way into another building, Ellie grabbed a bottle, following just behind Elva through the shelving units and leaping out of the window.

The freezing air hugged their bodies, freezing their noses until they turned bright red. A sound of a bell ringing echoed through the resort, notifying the people who lived there that there was something going on.

Elva quickly choked out a man on one of the house balconies, letting Ellie continue on the other way. It was a mess of cars and buildings, mixed with snow and fog. It was almost like a maze.

More hunters met them on the other side of town. “What if she bites someone?”

“Relax, she’s not biting anybody.”

They made a break for a large restaurant, only for a gunshot to sound out. Elva’s stomach rippled with excruciating pain, and she dropped to her knees. Ellie looked over, watching as the older woman’s blood coated the snow.

“No, no, no!” Ellie exclaimed.

Elva’s eyes widened as she gripped onto her stomach, breathing heavily as she looked into the younger girl’s eyes. “Go, go!” She yelled.

“No! Not without you!”

“Go!” Elva exclaimed, a bit of blood finding its way into her mouth. Her torso completely fell into the snow, the blizzard carrying her away to invisibility. Ellie looked at her, gazing towards the restaurant and back to her.

Ellie nodded, grabbing a hold of Elva’s gun before making a break towards the building across from her. The metallic taste of blood soon overtook Elva’s senses as she continued to bleed out onto the snow, gripping onto her wound.

She brushed her shirt off of her collarbone with her free hand, trembling with weakness as she held onto the chain that wrapped itself around her neck.

In the restaurant, Ellie jumped through desks and tables, holding Elva’s gun to her chest as she looked for any sign of people.

She gazed towards a far exit, seeing a male figure at the door.

“You and your friend are easy to track.” David maliciously smirked.

“You- you shot her?!” Ellie yelled, holding her gun up towards him.

David only smiled, pulling the gun out of her hands. “How did you do it?” He asked, his feet pressing against the carpeted floor.

Ellie fell to the floor, watching as one of the hunter’s fire barrels caught fire to the wooden walls. Luckily, David noticed it too, giving the young girl enough time to sprint off and hide somewhere.

“That’s alright, there’s nowhere to go!” He taunted, stalking her around the restaurant as she thought of a plan. “You want out? You wanna see your friend again? You’re gonna have to come get these keys.” David spoke, patting the chain on his belt.

The young girl seethed as she avoided his gaze, watching as he chucked a bottle of alcohol at the raging fire.

“I know you’re not infected, no one who’s infected fights this hard to stay alive.” David smiled, looking around the room.

Ellie took the chance to creep up behind him, stabbing him in the neck before scrambling to get away again. Three shots of his gun missed her, only hitting the floor.

“That was good, kid.” He sneered. “It’s gonna be alright."

She watched as David put his gun away, exchanging it for a bloodied machete. It glimmered in the firelight, and smoke soon began to flow through the restaurant.

“You know, you keep surprising me.” He exclaimed. “It’s a shame you wouldn’t come around. Give up now and I promise to be quick.” David smiled, almost genuinely.

“Go fuck yourself!” Ellie spat, maneuvering away from the man. The fire raged on through the restaurant, setting the whole entire wall on fire.

A crashing came from the destruction as Ellie stabbed David in the stomach, running away quickly and hiding again. He gasped, clutching onto the wound as he grinned, blood staining his teeth.

“Run, little rabbit, run.”

More shots rang through the restaurant as Ellie narrowly avoided David, trying to get the angle on him again. The roof began to catch fire as Ellie coughed, the smell of smoke and dust filling her lungs slowly.

The heat was almost intoxicating, smoke filling the room and making it almost impossible to see anything. David continued weaving through the tables, embers slowly collapsing on his shirt,

Ellie crept up behind him, stabbing him one last time in the chest. David grabbed her, chucking her over his shoulder and knocking her out before passing out from blood loss.

★★★★★

Joel approached the outskirts of the resort, still holding onto his stomach as he avoided the gaze of the hunters. It was a snowstorm outside, and his ears were beginning to turn a bright pink.

His hair was coated in snow, dying it a beautiful white color as he ducked into the garage. Two hunters were talking outside, patrolling for something.

“This is pointless!” One yelled. “I can’t see a thing.”

“Just keep searching.” The other replied. “If the two come through here, we gotta catch them.”

“We should be guarding the shelter.” The first one stated. “We got an infected and her crazy mom running around in the town and we’re guarding the damn exit?”

“Look, this kid is deadly, and so is the woman she’s with. We don’t know where they’re gonna show up.” He spoke. “Just keep your eyes and ears open.”

Joel ran out from the garage, using the lack of vision to his advantage. He killed the first guard, slowly choking him from behind. The other one hadn’t noticed, so he continued on his way through the town.

He took down another one in a different building, snapping his neck and letting him bleed out in the snow. Joel finished off another one, as well, before the hunter could find his accomplices’ bodies.

The man spotted a large lookout area, and he attempted to avoid it by staying out of eye’s view. He quickly pulled out his scoped rifle, taking the sniper on the top down with one clean headshot.

Others stood below, one walking out onto the road to find the culprit. Joel took him down as well, and the other two that had heard the commotion.

Bodies began stacking up onto the snow, staining it a deep red. The man continued his search for Elva and Ellie, trying not to let the blizzard taint his ability to find them.

He killed the last lookout hunter, walking through a tunnel-like cargo box. There were fire barrels everywhere, relieving Joel from his chill, but he couldn’t dawdle for too long.

Another cannibal was standing in the road, letting Joel get an easy kill. Two more came to inspect the body, and he killed both of them easily.

Joel ran through the roads, his breath beginning to stagger more and more as he took refuge in another building.

On the shelving units, Ellie and Elva’s backpacks sat there.

“What is this?” He asked, looking at the two bags. “Why is their stuff here?”

He continued looking around, walking into a room with human bodies hanging from the ceiling. Their heads were completely wrapped in bandages, and their torsos were stripped of any sign of nutrition. Joel refused to believe that one of them could be Elva or Ellie, and he continued making his way through the building.

“Oh, Christ.” He exclaimed. “I gotta find them, I gotta find them.”

The main street Joel walked out into was completely covered in snow, and across from it stood a building completely covered in fire. It was burning to a crisp.

“Holy shit.” He breathed, his face becoming illuminated by the firelight as he tried to find a way into the building.

★★★★★

Ellie awoke in the burning restaurant, her head pounding and her lungs slowly filling with smoke. Her body felt like it was burning under the intense heat, and she attempted to crawl towards the machete on the ground.

As soon as she got closer, David delivered a kick to her abdomen, forcing her to fall back to the carpeted ground.

“I knew you had heart.” He sneered. “Y’know, it’s okay to give up. There ain’t no shame in it.” The man breathed, gripping onto his shoulder. “It’s just not your style, is it?” He asked as Ellie continued to crawl towards the blade.

David kicked her again, a large, pained groaning noise coming out of the girl’s mouth as she toppled over again. He crawled on top of Ellie, pinning her to the ground. Her arm was _just_ out of reach of the machete.

“You can try beggin’-”

“Fuck you.” Ellie spat.

“You think you know me, huh?” David growled. “Well, let me tell you somethin’, you have _no_ idea what I’m capable of.” He placed his hands around her throat, slowly letting her lose air.

Ellie grabbed onto the handle of the machete, delivering a stab into the man’s shoulder and letting him cry out in pain. He fell off of her, letting the young girl crawl on top of him and continue slashing his face.

Another figure pulled her off of him, causing Ellie to writhe around in his grip.

“No, don’t fucking touch me!” She yelled.

“It’s okay, it’s me, it’s me, it’s me.” Joel spoke softly, holding onto Ellie’s face.

Pained cries came out of the girl’s mouth. “He tried to-”

Joel looked at her, pain of his own rippling through his chest. “Oh, baby girl.” He exclaimed, letting her face fall into his shoulder. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

A few minutes passed, and Ellie sniffled, beginning to hyperventilate. “El- Elva sh- she-!”

“C’mon, baby girl, I need you to tell me where she is.” Joel spoke, immediately worried for the woman he had grown to care for again.

He helped her stand up, stabilizing the young girl as her legs wobbled. They left the burning restaurant, staggering through the snow as Ellie led Joel towards Elva.

They finally spotted the heap of color in the thick powder, and Joel quickly ran over to where Elva was, her blood staining the snow underneath her. Her body was completely still, numb from the cold after shivering for so long. The snow continued to fall down onto the three of them as they met up again.

“Jesus.” Joel exclaimed, letting his knees fall into the snow as he glanced to Elva. The bullet was still in her stomach, the blood staining through her shirt.

“I need- I need you to know-”

Joel shushed Elva. “Just tell me what to do, please.” He begged.

Elva shook her head. “I need to tell you something first-”

“Please-”

“Joel!” She spoke, her breathing becoming more and more erratic. “I-in case I don’t make this, I need you to know what happened, then I’ll tell you how t-to remove the bullet.”

He nodded reluctantly. “Three years. That’s how long I was with FEDRA. When I finally escaped, a woman named Marlene came to me with a proposition.

“She’d help me escape and get medical treatment if I joined the Fireflies

She knew that I had expertise in science and medical skills, their numbers were dropping, they needed me. So, I said yes.” Elva breathed, still in immense pain as she lifted her hand to her neck, ripping off her Firefly pendant that had been hidden underneath her shirt. She placed it in Joel’s hand. “I met a woman named Anna. She was pregnant, and she died shortly after she gave birth. I took care of her daughter, named Ellie.

“I lost her.” Elva staggered. “FEDRA came, took her, and I still hate myself for that day, so I quit the Fireflies, went on my own for a bit.”

“Slow down.” Joel spoke softly as her breathing became more irregular.

Elva gulped. “Marlene found me, told me they had found Ellie. I went straight to her, and found out that she had formed an immunity.”

She sighed. “You wanted to know where I was, that’s where I was.” Elva laughed painfully, coughing a bit afterwards.

Joel looked at the pendant in his hand, clipping it against his neck and grabbing a first aid kit out of his backpack.

“When you remove the bullet, I’ll probably pass out from the pain.” Elva directed. “So I’m only gonna be able to tell you this once.

“Disinfect it, use the small tweezers to dig it out, then _quickly_ stitch it shut, disinfect again, then bandage it.” Elva instructed. “You’re gonna wanna act fast before I die from blood loss.” She chuckled darkly.

Joel nodded shakily, Ellie still beside him. The young girl looked at Elva, her eyes glistening with tears. “Please- Please make it, El’. You’re the closest thing I have to a mom.” Ellie revealed, her knees beginning to go numb from crouching down.

Elva smiled sadly, tears dripping down her waterline. “Oh, god, Ellie, you’re the daughter I never had.” She spoke. Elva turned to Joel, nodding.

He leant down, beginning to disinfect the gunshot wound. Joel’s hands were shaking just a bit, he wasn’t the professional in the situation, but it was the only thing he could do to help.

Elva’s body lurched forward as he dug the tweezers into her body, making a small hissing noise as Joel tried to locate the bullet. The pain mixed with the intense cold was excruciating, leading Elva to completely black out.

Thankfully, Joel managed to pull out the bullet. He stitched the wound up just as he was directed to and disinfected it. He tried not to let his eyes shine with tears, but a few slipped down and disappeared into his brown and gray beard.

Ellie stood up, placing the first aid kit in her backpack whilst Joel carefully picked Elva up off of the ground, trying not to rip her stitches. He placed his jacket over her shoulders, maneuvering awkwardly to pull it off.

They began trekking back towards the house where Joel had been taken care of as quick as they could through the blizzard. Joel _had_ taken out most of David’s men, and he was dead, but that didn’t mean everyone was gone. Ellie pulled out her switchblade instinctively, not wanting anything bad to happen to Elva.

The house was warm compared to the blizzard outside, and Joel set Elva down in the garage they had placed him in before. He wrapped her in as many warm pieces of clothing as he could, trying to let her warm up.

“There’s some wood in here from when you were hurt.” Ellie spoke, placing some down on the concrete floor. “Elva grabbed it.”

Joel nodded, silently thanking the girl as he set up a small fire and opened one of the windows above. Thankfully, the small screen barrier remained, the small ventilation area perfect for the survivors.

He grasped onto the small Firefly pendant on his neck. Surprisingly, he wasn’t mad about the fact that Elva had kept so many secrets, about Ellie, about herself. The numbers engraved on the pendant, 000872, with her name written on it, Elva Stone, suddenly meant something to Joel.

Ellie had fallen fast asleep beside Elva, her form cuddling into the woman’s side. They had meant more to each other than Joel had ever known, and for some reason that made him feel guilty.

“Goodnight.” He spoke softly, in a murmur, almost. Joel laid down on the mattress beside Elva, watching as the fire soon turned to embers before he fell into a surprisingly peaceful sleep.

★★★★★


	33. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
**SPRING: IT CAN'T BE FOR NOTHING  
**★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

By spring, Joel had healed nicely. He was still taking precautions, but he was no longer in pain everyday. Elva had also healed from her bullet wound, and she was _happy._ Both of the adults could tell that Ellie was still completely traumatized by the events that happened months ago, so they tried not to rush her.

Salt Lake City never looked more alive. Trees were growing, and finally there were signs of life from after the outbreak.

“-Ellie, did you hear me?” Joel asked, turning around to see the young girl gazing at a deer emblem on a fence wall.

Elva looked towards Ellie, a soft smile on her face as she beckoned the girl back over to the adults. After everything about Elva and Ellie flew up in the air, it wasn’t as awkward as they thought it would be. It was comfortable.

“No.” Ellie replied. “What?”

“Look, hospital signs.” Joel pointed, the bright white letters illuminating in the gorgeous sunlight. “This is where we get off.”

“Let’s go.” Elva smiled, holding onto the young girl’s shoulder as they walked down the freeway. The sun shined onto their heads, and it was a beautiful start to Spring.

“Feel that breeze?” Joel chuckled. “I tell you, on a day like this, I’d just sit on my porch and pick away at my six string.” He exclaimed. “Yeah, once we’re done with this whole thing, I’m gonna teach you how to play guitar.” He smiled towards Ellie.

“I think she’d like that.” Elva smiled.

The young girl seemed completely out of it, looking down at the road as she kicked up a few rocks with her feet.

“Ellie, I’m talkin’ to you.” Joel stated softly.

“Huh?” The young girl turned. “Oh, yeah, sure. That sounds great.”

Ellie walked a bit ahead of the other two. “She’s gonna need some time.” Elva breathed, fiddling with Anna’s old Firefly pendant as she spoke.

Joel sighed. “Yeah- yeah, I know.” He replied. He still hadn’t taken off her Firefly pendant, and it stayed tucked under his shirt. “I just- how can a kid come back from that?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Elva sighed. “But she’s a strong kid, she’ll be okay.”

Ellie finally struck up a conversation as they walked along the road. “I dreamt about flying the other night.” She stated, looking at an old airline advertisement on the side of an abandoned bus.

“Oh, yeah?” Elva smiled, happy that she was talking again.

“Yeah.”

“Well, go on. Tell us about it.” Joel replied.

“So, I’m on this big plane full of people. And everyone is screaming and yelling ‘cause the plane’s going down.” Ellie explained. “So, I walk to the cockpit, open the door, but there’s no pilot. I try to use the controls but- I obviously have no clue how to fly a plane. And, right before we crash, I wake up.” She finished. “I’ve never been on a plane, isn’t that weird?”

Joel let out a ‘hmph’ noise. “Well, you know, dreams are weird.” He awkwardly replied, earning a shoulder-bump from Elva.

They continued to walk along the road, a large ramp-like area leading down to what used to be a Quarantine Zone. It was just like the one they had got caught up in with their first encounter of hunters.

Elva looked at the old QZ signs. “Look at that, another city, another quarantine zone.”

“Abandoned?” Joel asked.

“Well, if it wasn’t, I don’t think the Fireflies would be running their entire operation here.”

Joel nodded in agreement, spotting the large building they were looking for. It was just barely off in the distance, their view covered a bit by the mass of crashed cars. “There’s the hospital.” He announced.

They avoided every car they could, looking at an old zoo poster on the side of a bus stop before continuing into a large terminal.

“Maybe we cut through here.” Joel proposed.

“That sounds good.” Elva replied.

The man looked to Ellie, her silence never being a good sign. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The young girl breathed.

“Ellie, you seem extra quiet today, is everything okay?” Elva asked.

“Oh, sorry.”

“No- it’s not-” Joel sighed. “It’s fine.”

They walked through the building in silence, making their way down to the main level of the old bus station. Even though it used to be a Quarantine Zone, it was still completely abandoned.

Joel looked through the old bags of luggage sprinkled across the floor, most likely from people waiting to get into the Q.Z. He grabbed an old note left behind on one of them, feeling dried water splashed over the top of it, wrinkling the paper.

_‘Lucia, we made it to the Quarantine Zone. I wanted to call you but all the phone lines are down in this city. They told us they can deliver letters between the different zones, although it’ll probably take a week or two to reach you. We’re in good spirits, Hanna talks about you a lot- she really misses you. I’m surprised at the calmness and maturity she’s shown throughout this craziness. I feel like I’ve been the emotional one, I find that she’s comforting me most of the time. We’ve raised her well. I hope all is well on your side of the country, and I really hope to hear your voice soon. Love, Graham.’_

The man sighed, folding up the letter and placing it back down on the luggage. Whoever ‘Graham’ was wanted to find his wife, and if he ever did (which he probably wouldn’t), Joel wouldn’t want to be the person to take the letter.

After a while of walking around the ground floor of the bus station again, Joel spotted Elva with a ladder in her hands. She walked it over to a larger platform, and placed it down onto the break in the wall.

Joel joined her, but the younger girl stayed sitting on one of the benches. “Ellie?” Elva asked, looking in concern at her. “Ellie?”

“What?” She asked, turning around to face the two adults.

“The ladder.” Joel replied, pointing towards the wall. “C’mon.”

“Right…” Ellie trailed off, climbing up the ladder first. Her footsteps padded away quickly as her voice drifted away from hearing. Joel and Elva looked at each other, eyebrows raised as the young girl gasped in awe. “Oh my god, woah.”

“What is it?” Joel asked, concerned.

No reply.

“Ellie?” Elva yelled, climbing up the ladder. Joel followed shortly behind, running towards Ellie. They ran through corridors until they reached a large opening in one of the walls, large enough to see a large giraffe roaming around.

The young girl continued to lead the two adults through the building, stopping at another open room. The giraffe was peacefully eating some greenery, content with its free life during the outbreak.

“Wow.” Elva exclaimed, smiling softly at the animal.

Joel walked closer to the giraffe, holding out his hand. Ellie shushed him. “Don’t scare it.”

“I won’t.” He replied, getting close enough to stoke his hand down the animal’s neck. “I won’t.” Joel pet down his mane, Ellie soon walking close enough to pet it as well.

Elva smiled from the back, watching as the two bonded. It had been a while since they had a moment like that, a peaceful moment. After everything that happened months before, all she could hope for was more moments that they could cherish. There weren’t a lot of them in general, they were lucky to share some between the three.

She didn’t even notice when the giraffe had walked off, she was too busy focusing on Joel and Ellie. “Aw, where’s it off to?” The young girl exclaimed, trying to see over the edge of the wall.

“C’mon, let’s go find it.” Elva replied, pushing Ellie forward through another one of the corridors. Joel simply sighed, rolling his eyes at the two’s antics as he followed them down the building.

More and more giraffes began appearing through the view, walking around the university campus. They walked up another stairwell, stepping out onto a balcony that had a perfect view of the herd of giraffes.

“Look at those things.” Ellie exclaimed, leaning her hands over the fence. Elva stood next to her, watching as the giraffes made their way through the greenery.

“So, is this everything you were hoping for?” Joel asked, standing next to Elva and looking towards Ellie.

“It’s got its ups and downs.” She shrugged. “You can’t deny the view though.”

The young girl continued towards the stairwell, walking over towards the door. Joel paused before turning over towards her, watching as Elva turned to Ellie, smiling at her.

Joel sighed as the older woman walked towards the stairwell as well, beckoning over the man. “We don’t have to do this, you know that, right?” He asked, causing Ellie to turn away from the stairwell door and face him.

She tilted her head, shrugging. “What’s the other option?”

He breathed out loudly. “Go back to Tommy’s. Just- be done with this whole thing.”

“Joel…” Elva sighed.

Ellie looked towards him, her eyebrows raised. “After all we’ve been through, after everything that I’ve done- it can’t be for nothing.” She replied, turning and walking through the stairwell door.

Elva placed her hand onto Joel’s shoulder, looking through the small building. “It’ll be fine, once this is all done, we’ll do that, I promise.” She smiled, hooking her arm through Joel’s.

He nodded, somehow not believing that to be true.

★★★★★

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> four chapters left - im so happy :)


	34. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SPRING: FIND SOMEONE ELSE  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Joel and Elva made their way out of the bus terminal, meeting up with Ellie at the end of the staircase. The view from the old Quarantine Zone was grim, of course, but it had a sense of life to it. Joel had spent his fair share of time in the Boston Q.Z., it was almost nostalgic.

Warm air wrapped itself around the three, signifying that Summer was almost arriving in the United States. Well, they weren’t very united anymore.

“This place takes me back.” Joel sighed, walking across the grass.

Intrigued, Ellie tilted her head. “How so?”

“A few years after everything went down, I ended up in a triage just like this.” He replied, looking towards Elva. It was right after she disappeared and Tommy joined the fireflies, he met Tess shortly after. “Man, everywhere you looked, you just- saw families torn apart. The whole damn world seemed to have turned upside-down in a blink.”

The young girl nodded, playing with her pocket knife. “Is that after you lost Sarah?” She asked, her voice softening. Elva placed a hand on her back, calming Ellie’s nerves of asking the dreaded question.

Joel frowned and sighed, it was about time. “Yeah… Yeah it was.”

Ellie paused, looking up to Elva, who gave her a small nod. “I- I can’t imagine losing someone you love like that. Losing everything that you know.” She looked to the ground. “I’m sorry, Joel.”

“That’s okay.” He smiled softly.

For the whole time Elva had known the man standing across from her, he had never cracked a smile after talking about Sarah. _Never_. He truly cared for Ellie, and in that moment Elva knew. She just hoped that Ellie knew that as well.

“Hey, I got somethin’ for you.” She stated, handing Joel a framed photo. “Here, Maria showed it to me and I- uh- I stole it. I hope you don’t mind.” Ellie smiled sheepishly as Joel raised his eyebrow skeptically, looking down at the photo.

It was the one Tommy had tried to give him. Sarah and him stood happily in a soccer field, he remembered the day like it was yesterday.

She won her first soccer game on her team, and her bright smile was just as Joel remembered it. Sarah’s arm was wrapped around her father’s shoulders, her blue and white striped jersey shining in the light.

Joel sighed, placing the photo in his backpack. “Well, no matter how hard you try, I guess you can’t escape your past.” He frowned, looking at Ellie. “Thank you.”

Elva pat his back as they continued to walk along the streets, almost telling him that he had done a good job, opening up to the younger girl. He nodded towards the woman as they cleared out the Q.Z., entering an abandoned traffic tunnel off the side of the highway.

Ellie’s voice echoed through the staircase as they walked down underground, avoiding any road blockages they could. “This time is gonna be different, I just know it.” She stated.

“What do you mean?” Elva replied.

“They’re gonna be here.” Ellie spoke passionately, her voice full of hope. “The Fireflies, I mean. I’m sure of it.”

Joel nodded, continuing down the tunnel. A large cargo truck blocked their way through, leaving the group to climb up on top of it and jump onto the road on the other side. The sounds of infected came echoing through, making Joel swear under his breath before reloading his gun.

“Stay down, Ellie.” Elva spoke quietly, pulling out her handgun and ducking down behind a car. Joel led them forward, all of them attempting to crouch low to the ground in order to make it out alive.

There were so many of them, Elva even caught sight of a bloater. Joel took down one of the runners, force choking it down to the ground before joining the others back behind one of the vans. Elva struck a shiv into one of the other infected’s necks, letting Ellie and Joel get through.

Breaking their cover, Joel took a shot at one of the clickers. He took it down with three shots, but of course, it alerted the other infected.

Whilst Joel took down a few of the runners, Elva took out her flamethrower, smiling and pulling against the handle. The bloater that had walked out became immediately charred, lighting up in just a few moments.

She finished the infected off by tossing a molotov its way, the flamethrower running out of gas to support it. The three joined up again, grabbing any supplies off of the ground that they could before making their way further into the tunnel.

More infected met Joel, Ellie, and Elva on the other side, wailing and making a break for the humans. The older man threw a sugar bomb, hindering the runner’s sight and shooting at it a couple of times. Of course, it would do nothing for the clickers that were on their way, but it’d work for now.

Elva shot down a few of the clickers, reloading her handgun before standing in front of Ellie and shielding her from the infected running at them.

The two adults managed to take out the infected they could see nearby as they ran across the ankle-deep water that had accumulated over the years. They walked into another separated room, more groans and grunts of infected coming from the other wall.

“Oh my god, there’s so many of them!” Ellie exclaimed, still standing a bit behind Elva.

“Let’s just keep at it.” Joel replied, tossing a nail bomb at a few of the runners that had come for them. They regrouped and continued on, spotting another two bloaters and a few clickers following them.

“Stay back, El’.” Elva spoke towards Ellie, crouching down beside Joel as they made their way through the water. Luckily, the bloaters was on a non water-covered portion, letting Elva toss another few molotovs their way.

Clicks and wails filled the tunnel as more and more clickers and runners came after the group. Ellie quickly followed Joel and Elva across the water bank, trying to shoot at some of the infected that were on their way.

Joel threw another molotov at the bloater, narrowly avoiding its avid bombs before watching it crumple to the ground.

“I think we got all of ‘em.” Joel exclaimed, breathing heavily.

“I think you’re right.” Ellie sighed.

“Endure and survive.” He muttered.

Elva smirked, trying to ignore the fact that her ankles and feet were soaking wet. “C’mon, let’s keep going.” She stated, walking the group over towards another block in the tunnel.

Ellie looked up at it thoughtfully. “Want me to get up there and shove that crate down?”

“That’d be great.” Elva replied, crouching down and boosting the young girl up onto the cargo block. She did as she offered, pushing the large wooden box down and making a way for the other two to get up.

They walked over into a flooded subsection, balancing over a large piece of debris that was placed just above the water level.

“Watch your step, that water looks pretty deep.” Joel remarked, looking behind him to face Ellie and Elva.

“That’s what we can do once we’re done.” The young girl smiled, making her way across the large chunks of debris with small, cautious steps. “You two can teach me how to swim.”

Joel chuckled deeply. “You got it.”

“Does Jackson have docks?” Elva asked, an amused smile plastered on her face as she helped Ellie balance across the pipes.

“I’m sure they have some form of it.” Joel replied.

They walked over to another roadblock, leaving the two adults to dive under and swim through a sunken boat. Joel announced their arrival on the other side to Ellie, Elva gasping for air before water could fill her lungs.

“Drop that ladder down for me!” Ellie replied, pointing to a stray ladder on top of an old fire service truck. Elva made her way on top of the bus, grabbing the object and positioning it for Ellie.

“Alright, just stick to the edge.” Joel instructed to the younger girl as she climbed up the ladder. “It’s shallow over here.” He pointed out, treading through the shoulder-length water.

Elva kept to the center, ducking under and floating just above the water level. Ellie stepped in, her legs immediately seizing due to the temperature.

“It’s freezing!” She exclaimed.

The older woman smiled, looking behind her at the girl. “We’ll get warm as soon as we get to the hospital.” Elva promised, following Joel through the mossy and murky water.

They made it back onto a on-land platform, immediately trying to open a chained door.

With no luck, Joel sighed. “Another jammed door.” He exclaimed, spotting a gap separating the fence from the roof. “Gimme your foot.” He spoke to Ellie, boosting her up into the room on the other side of the fence.

As Ellie landed on the other side, a clicker revealed itself from a pile of boxes on the ground. Elva quickly gripped onto handgun, carefully shooting through the chained fence and taking down the infected before it could get to the girl.

“You okay?” Joel asked with concern towards Ellie.

“Yeah- it just surprised me.” She replied, her voice slightly wavering. “Man, I can’t wait for those things to be wiped out.”

Joel’s stomach seized again, what was going on? He had to get Ellie to the Fireflies, then they’d all go back to Jackson, everything was going to go fine.

False hope was something he had perfected over the years.

Ellie opened the door, letting Elva and Joel get through to the room she was in. They continued looking for an exit towards Saint Mary’s Hospital, ducking down under a large pipe and making their way around the tunnel system.

Finally, they made it out to sunlight again. A large trench of water separated them from the road across, and they stood on top of another held-up platform.

“There it is.” Elva breathed, looking over to the hospital.

It was only a few minutes away, their journey was almost over. Joel thought he would’ve felt relieved, but truly, he only felt more worried. What was going to happen when they got there? Why was he suddenly changing his mind about the whole Ellie and Elva situation?

“We’re so close.” Ellie exclaimed, looking down at the large crevasse of water. Elva and Joel leaped in, looking at the large gap in one of the staircases.

Joel made his way through a sunken doorway, looking for anything they could use to get Ellie across. He walked into a large plumbing room, completely being separated from Elva. He was really just glad he had gotten out of the water.

He squished himself through a tight squeeze against some pipes, only to be on a platform that overlooked Ellie and Elva on the lower level.

“Hey!” Elva yelled.

“You made it!” Ellie exclaimed. “Come on, get me across.”

Joel spotted a wooden palette resting against the fence separating him from the large drop into the water, and he quickly pushed it down to where Ellie and Elva were. He watched for a moment as the older woman began pushing it to the girl. Joel jumped down himself, helping Elva as she pulled Ellie towards the exit.

“Be careful.” He exclaimed, pushing the wooden platform against the metal exit. Now, the only problem they had was trying to figure out how to get Elva and himself across.

Elva seemed to have the same idea, they both got out of the water and watched as Ellie pushed down a retractable ladder. “Stand back!” She yelled, watching as it slammed to the ground with a loud crash.

“After you.” Joel smiled. Elva nodded, but as soon as she hooked her leg onto the platform, the ladder completely shattered under her weight. Thankfully, she wasn’t too far up, and she landed on her feet.

“Wh-what just happened?” Ellie asked, partially in shock.

“The damn ladder broke off the wall.” Elva replied, shaking herself off.

“You okay?” Joel looked towards her, concern on his face.

“Yeah, yeah.” She answered, grimacing a bit as she stretched her back. “It was a tiny fall, I’m fine.”

Ellie let out an exasperated sigh. “Now what?”

“We’ll figure somethin’ out.” Joel replied.

Elva held onto the broken ladder, looking over to the large gap separating the staircase platform from where Ellie was. She placed it down to where Joel had been moments ago, the two climbing up.

She grabbed the ladder again, walked across the platform and placed it down in between the gap.

“After you.” Elva mimicked.

“Yeah, cause that worked out so well last time.” Joel murmured, walking across and waiting for Elva on the other side.

Soon, they were all reunited, and they stood up on the broken road near the hospital. A secondary large tunnel separated them from their destination once again.

“Oh, boy.” Ellie sighed.

“Just- let us go ahead, you follow our lead.” Joel instructed, looking over to a pathway made by large chunks of pipe debris. The water was rushing too fast to swim in, leaving the group to jump across the platforms placed in the current.

Elva followed Joel, jumping across the debris and narrowly avoiding the rushing current creating mist around them. A large gap was seen, and Joel turned around, facing Ellie as Elva jumped towards him.

“Okay, come on- jump.” He spoke to the younger girl.

“You’re gonna catch me?” She asked, unsure.

Joel nodded, holding his arms out as she jumped over. Ellie made it across quickly, only needing a slight push across to stabilize her.

Elva smiled. “Great job, you two.”

“Let’s just get the hell off this thing.” The young girl replied, breathing heavily in between each word. Joel continued to lead them across, trying to get out of the tunnel and back onto the road above.

The bus began to break under the weight of the group and the current.

“Ellie!” Elva yelled, trying to wobble her way across to the younger girl. She managed to jump up, only for the ledge to break under Elva as she jumped up. Ellie was stuck on the metal platform above, desperately trying to grasp onto their hands.

“Here! C’mon!” Ellie yelled.

The moving bus knocked both of the adults inside of it, glass shattering overtop of them and scratching against their skin. The current flowed in, both Joel and Elva gripping onto whatever they could inside of the bus.

They held onto pipes, trying to pull themselves to the front of the bus as it continued to move downstream.

Soon enough, the pipes broke underneath their weight, sending them both to the back of the bus. Joel’s back hit the doors first, making him let out a deep groan in pain. Elva landed against him, desperately trying to swim forward. The current wouldn’t let them move.

A large crash came from the door above them, revealing Ellie trying to smash open the glass. “Open, you piece of shit!” She yelled.

“Ellie!” Joel yelled, helping her pull it down.

The door smacked Elva in the face before they tried to pull themselves up, leaving her with a bloody nose. Air felt like a luxury as Joel pulled himself up, trying to help Elva at the same time.

The current swept the bus to the side, leaving Ellie to grasp onto the door for support.

“Shit, Ellie!” Elva yelled desperately, running out of breath as she tried to inhale and exhale deeply.

The bus collapsed, sending everyone completely underwater. Joel and Elva managed to swim out, beginning a frantic search for Ellie. They spotted her sinking, unconscious body, and Joel immediately swam to her. He pulled her up to the surface, gasping for air and meeting with Elva on the other side.

Water dripped from their faces, blood coating Elva’s lips and nose. Ellie was unconscious on the ground, her chest not moving.

“No-!” Elva yelled, scrambling over to where Joel was. He began to do CPR on her chest, trying to get the water out of her lungs.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon…” He repeated desperately.

“Ellie, get up, please for the love of God get up.” Elva checked her airways, water mixing with the blood and tears splattered across her face.

Two soldiers cocked their guns at them, turning their attention over to the two Fireflies.

“Hands in the air.” One demanded.

“She’s not breathing.” Joel replied desperately, continuing to do CPR on Ellie.

“Hands in the fucking air!”

“Ellie, Ellie, come on.” Elva begged, her voice cracking and wavering against the pressure. She was _dying,_ the least of their worries was getting shot.

The butt of the two soldier’s guns came into contact with Joel and Elva’s heads, knocking them unconscious.

★★★★★

Joel awoke in a hospital room, his breath heavy. Was Elva okay? Was Ellie okay? Where the hell was he? His heart was racing, his eyes darting around the room until he found Elva, who was sitting on a chair across from the bed he was in.

“Marlene got us.” She spoke. “Apparently they already took Ellie with them to the operating room.”

“Ah-” Joel grunted as he stood up, scratching his head where the end of the gun had hit him. “How’d you get in here?”

“She said she’d be a minute, I woke up first.” Elva nodded, watching as Marlene and the soldier from earlier walked in. The leader of the Fireflies sat down in the chair beside Joel’s bed, leaving the soldier to stand and observe.

“Welcome to the Fireflies.” Marlene smiled. “Sorry about the…” She trailed off, pointing to her head and looking at the two smugglers. “They didn’t know who you two were.”

Joel sat up fully. “And Ellie?”

“She’s alright. They brought her back.” Marlene replied. “You two came all this way, how’d you do it?” She asked.

“It was all her. She fought like hell to get here.” Joel answered.

“Maybe it was meant to be.” Elva sighed.

“Well, I’m glad I put you on the job, even though you’re not with us anymore.” Marlene nodded to Elva, smiling a bit in gratitude. “I lost most of my crew trying to get here, I pretty much lost everything.” She spoke, standing up and facing the two. “And then you two show up and somehow we find you _just_ in time to save her.” Marlene nodded, sighing. “Maybe it _was_ meant to be.”

Joel got up, standing across from the leader. “Take us to her.”

“You two don’t have to worry about her anymore.” Marlene replied.

“Please, just- let us see her.” Elva begged, standing up as well.

“You can’t.” Marlene stated. “She’s being prepped for surgery.”

“What?” The ex-Firefly asked.

Joel’s face turned downwards into a frown. “What the hell do you mean, surgery?”

“The doctors told me the growth inside her brain has somehow mutated. It’s why she’s immune.” Marlene answered firmly, her arms crossed against her chest. “Once they remove it, they’ll be able to reverse engineer a vaccine.”

Elva scoffed in disbelief. “Marlene- it grows _all_ over the brain.”

“It does.”

The realization hit Joel. She was going to _die_ for this vaccine. “Find someone else.” He replied, an edge to his tone. He couldn’t lose Ellie, not now. Not after everything.

“There is no one else.”

Elva stepped towards Marlene. “Listen, you’re gonna show us where-” The Firefly soldier kicked her to the ground with his gun, drawing it onto the woman. Joel looked to her, a hand showed up in help, only for the soldier to point his gun at him.

“Stop.” Marlene demanded, looking to the Firefly soldier. He stepped back, lowering his gun and letting Elva get up in pain. “I get it, but whatever it is you two think you’re going through is nothing to what I have been through.”

“You wanna bet on that?” Elva replied harshly. “I’ve known her since she was born, I knew her mother, I am not letting her die on your accord, of all people.” She spoke, looking to Marlene. “Anna-”

“Don’t-”

“Anna made you _promise_ that you’d look after her if I disappeared. You promised. Why are you letting this happen?” Elva yelled.

“Because this isn’t about me, you, or even her. There is no other choice here.”

Joel snarled towards Marlene, his upper lip lifted up. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that bullshit.” He grunted.

Marlene turned to the soldier to her side. “March them outta here, if they try anything, shoot them.” She looked to Elva, no hint of guilt towards her old friend. “Don’t waste this gift.”

“You promised her, Marlene.” Elva sneered. “And that’s what’s gonna get you fucking killed.” The leader of the Fireflies sighed, looking down at the ground and gulping as she left the room.

The soldier pointed his gun towards the two. “Go on, move.” He demanded, walking them both over to the door. Joel looked over to Elva, nodding to her lightly. They had to find Ellie, if it was the last thing they did.

They stopped in the doorway. “I said move!” He yelled. “Gimme an excuse.”

Elva sighed, looking to Joel as he replied. “Which way?”

The soldier gestured to the side, letting the two walk over to where he pointed to. Elva spotted her and Joel’s bags on a counter as they walked by, nudging his shoulder and gesturing over to it with her head.

They stopped again. “The fuck are you doing, keep walking!”

Joel elbowed the soldier’s gun up, letting Elva grab a hold of it before he could fire a shot. She hit him a few times with it, blood spurting out of his face as she pressed the gun against the Firefly’s stomach, her vision clouding.

“Where’s the operating room?” Joel asked. When the soldier remained silent, Elva shot him in the abdomen.

“Where?!” She growled, another shot.

“Top floor.” The soldier replied, his body shaking. “The far end.”

Elva dropped him to the ground. Joel passed her her backpack, letting them both grab and reload their weapons. They walked across the long, open corridor, not before Elva turned around and shot the weak soldier in the head.

“Let’s go.” She spoke.

“Gunshots!” A far cry yelled. “Search the floor!”

“Shit.” Joel swore.

★★★★★

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 MORE CHAPTERS LEFT + EPILOGUE!!! :)


	35. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SPRING: YOU CAN'T SAVE HER  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Elva and Joel hid behind a wall, trying to avoid the gaze of the incoming Fireflies that were soon going to surround them.

“What the fuck do we do, here?” Elva asked, her face filled with determination and concern as flashlights were visible down the hall.

“We get Ellie back.”

“No shit, Sherlock. I mean right now!”

Two of the Fireflies ran down the hallway, looking over the soldier’s dead body. “Oh, shit, they killed Ethan!” One of them yelled.

“What?”

“Ethan’s dead.”

“We got a man down.” The Firefly spoke through his radio. “The smugglers escaped.”

 _“Locate the targets and eliminate them_.” The radio replied. _“We’ll search the other floors.”_ Joel noticed how fast Marlene had switched onto her old friend, and how quickly the Fireflies wanted Elva dead.

“Yes, sir.” The soldier looked over to his other accomplice, not noticing the two watching them from another medical room. “Search the floor.” He instructed. “Find the smugglers and shoot them on sight.”

Joel nodded towards Elva, separating into a different open window. They both placed their guns out, taking one headshot each and killing both of the Fireflies.

More and more reinforcements filed in, and Elva pulled out her flamethrower, finding a few stray cans of gas to fuel it with. While she was reloading, Joel took down another soldier that had run at them.

The male smuggler chucked a brick at the wall, leading some of the soldiers over. He tossed a molotov through the window, burning one of the Fireflies alive.

They moved through the corridor, setting off a smoke bomb near two of the soldiers as Elva flamed them with her weapon. Their bodies began charred and dead as they slumped to the floor, letting the two smugglers continue through the corridors.

A gunshot sounded behind them, Joel being tackled from behind. Elva pulled the soldier off of his back, pushing the Firefly to the ground and slamming her foot into his head. With the extra time, Joel shoved a shiv into another soldier.

Joel threw another smoke bomb, spotting too many Fireflies to count down the hallway across from him. Elva took down one of them, snapping his neck and taking the extra gas he had holding.

Another few Fireflies ran at them, causing Joel to throw a molotov at their bodies. They fell limp to the ground soon enough, and Elva walked down the decontamination room, holding onto the flamethrower trigger.

Charred bodies fell to the ground in heaps of wails and cries, embers dancing across their bodies. The hallways were covered in windows, and more and more soldiers came at the two.

Elva grabbed a hold of two assault rifles off of the bodies, handing one to Joel. They both took down the herd of soldiers filing through the hallway.

They made it through another decontamination corridor, ducking down behind a few desks as more and more Fireflies ran through the stairwell door. That was their exit.

“What’s going on down there?” One of the Fireflies asked, Joel quickly shooting him in the head with his handgun.

Both of their footsteps were stained with blood as the two smugglers ran up the stairwell, Elva quickly blocking the door with a chair.

They continued to run as fast as they could through the corridors, their legs burning with exhaustion and adrenaline.

Through the windows, Joel and Elva spotted the surgery wing, the lights illuminated and shadows dancing across it. “That’s it.” Elva pointed out.

“We’re coming, Ellie.” He muttered, more Firefly voices echoing down the halls.

“They’re not responding! Take up your positions!” One yelled. “No matter what, they don’t get through here! Go!”

“Who the hell are these guys?”

“One’s an ex-Firefly, she left a while back. She was close with the kid, and they both brought her back all the way from Pittsburgh, that’s all I know.” One of the Fireflies spoke, his voice strong and firm. “Marlene insisted on questioning them herself.”

Another group of Fireflies met them at the next corridor checkpoint, letting Elva cock her flamethrower towards them again. With more cries of pain and hurt, they all fell limp to the ground, dying in a charred heap.

One of the Fireflies fired a gun, barely grazing against Joel’s arm. “Fuck.” He grunted, shooting the Firefly back.

“Shit, are you okay, Joel?” Elva asked, pulling out a first aid kit and handing him a bottle of alcohol and a package of bandages.

He nodded. “Just a nick.” Joel wrapped his arm and placed the remaining first aid supplies in his backpack.

The surgery room was barely out of their reach, it seemed so close yet so far away at the same time. Joel ran alongside Elva down the corridor once again, his legs screaming in pain.

As they ran, they took down more and more Fireflies with their guns. Elva simply held out her flamethrower and held on to the trigger whenever someone was in her reach.

Finally, the corridor was empty, and Joel pushed open the door on the other side, letting himself and Elva through to the next room. The woman smuggler pulled an old supply crate over the door, blocking it.

“That should buy us some time!” She yelled. “Run!”

Joel took her advice and continued his sprint alongside Elva. The red surgery room door was just there, and they busted in.

Ellie was knocked out on the table, hooked up to all sorts of cords and IV drips. Her heart was beating at a steady pace, slowly slowing down from the mask placed over her mouth and nose.

“Fuck, Ellie.” Elva spoke, holding her gun out to the three doctors remaining in the room.

“What’re you doing here?” One asked, looking at Joel and Elva. “I won’t let you take her, this is our future. Think of all the lives we’ll save.”

Joel unhooked Ellie from her tubes, slowly picking her limp and unconscious body up off of the surgery table.

“Don’t come any closer.” The doctor demanded, watching as Elva stepped towards him with her gun still in her hand. “I mean it.”

She held it up to his head, letting her hand fall onto the trigger. The doctor fell to the ground, blood pooling out from the hole in his forehead.

“No!” One of the nurses yelled, looking to Elva. “You fucking animal! You were one of us!” She cried.

“I was never one of you.” She replied darkly, shooting the nurse in the stomach.

“Come on, baby girl.” Joel muttered, fully picking up Ellie. “Elva, let’s go!” He yelled, hearing more and more Firefly voices calling down the halls.

One of the doctors remained, panicked and slumped against the counter in complete and utter fear.

Joel and Elva left the surgery room through the backdoor, running as fast as they could through the hallways again. Elva held her gun in her hand, shooting down every soldier she could.

Everything became a blur. Joel’s vision was a mix of red flashing lights and white blinding flashlights flickering across the walls.

He heard Elva’s gunshots, killing everyone that was in their path.

“Go!” She yelled, shooting one of the soldiers behind them as Joel made a break for the elevator, Ellie still in his arms.

The elevator doors shut, Elva, Ellie, and Joel standing in silence as the lift rode down to the garage. Joel gulped, what had he just done?

The lift stopped, revealing the parking garage. Marlene stood, her gun pointed straight towards Elva’s head.

“You can’t save her.” She stated. “Even if you get her out of here, then what? How long will it be before she’s torn to pieces by a pack of clickers? That is, if she hasn’t been raped and murdered first?” She asked.

Elva stood shakily in front of Joel, protecting Ellie. “That isn’t for you to decide.” She spat, pulling her own gun and pointing it towards Marlene.

The leader of the Fireflies pulled her gun down. “It’s what she’d want, you know that- you should know that more than anybody else here.” Marlene stated, “You can still do the right thing here, she won’t feel anything.”

Elva stepped away from Joel, looking at his hand that had been placed under Ellie’s knees. He held a handgun, and he knew that she couldn’t kill Marlene, no matter how much she wanted to.

Joel pulled the trigger, letting Marlene fall to the floor. Elva’s body tensed beside him, and they began walking towards the empty car in the parking lot.

He pulled Ellie into the backseat, shutting the door.

Marlene, half-dead, crawled across the floor, a trail of blood following her. Joel walked over towards her as Elva got in the passenger seat to the truck.

“Wait!” Marlene begged, her voice staggered as she lifted her hand out. “Let me go, please.” She pleaded.

Joel paused, holding his gun to her head. “You’d just come after her.”

★★★★★

Joel drove through the highway, Elva sitting next to him in the passenger seat. Ellie stirred awake in the backseat, rubbing her eyes and groaning.

“What the hell am I wearing?” She asked, looking down at her hospital gown.

“El’, take it easy.” Elva replied, turning around and looking at the young girl softly. “The drugs are still wearing off.”

“What happened?”

Joel let in a sharp breath, looking to Elva. “We found the Fireflies. It turns out, there’s a whole lot more like you, Ellie- people that are immune. It’s dozens, actually.” He lied, the harsh words spreading across his tongue easily. “It ain’t done a damn bit of good either. They’ve actually st-” He paused, letting out a breath. “They’ve stopped looking for a cure.”

Ellie turned to face the back seat, not facing the other two. Elva looked at her back, tears forming in her eyes. “We’re taking you home.” She stated, looking at the old map of Jackson sprawled across the dashboard.

Joel sighed, apologizing and continuing to drive down the freeway.

★★★★★


	36. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **SPRING: I SWEAR  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Elva watched as Ellie inspected her bite mark, guilt still ridden in her stomach. Joel walked over from the hood of the truck, slamming it shut and frowning towards the two girls across from him.

“Well, looks like we’re walking.” He spoke, looking at the broken-down truck. Thankfully, a large _Jackson City_ sign was right behind him, they didn’t have to go too far.

Ellie got out of the car, following Joel and Elva. The older woman looked at the view down the cliff, turning back to Joel who had come across a barbed fence. “It’s a straight shot through here, right?” She asked.

“Should be.” He nodded. “It’s actually kinda pretty, ain’t it?”

“Yeah.” Ellie nodded, her voice in a breath.

Joel held a small hole in the barbed wire open, letting Elva and Ellie go through. “Now, watch your head going through.” He spoke, watching as the two girls opened the gap for him.

He groaned as he leant down, meeting the others on the other side. “Feelin’ my age now.” He grinned.

“God, we’re too old for this.” Elva shook her head, smiling at Joel as they led Ellie through the forest. She didn’t doubt that the younger girl needed space for a while, so Elva didn’t worry about her.

They walked a bit further, Joel looking through the trees with a peaceful gaze. “I don’t think I ever told you, Ellie, but Sarah and I used to take hikes like this.” He stated, his mind clearing from guilt for a moment. It was hard to get moments that weren’t filled with guilt and dread, it was nice. “I think- ah- I think you two would’ve been good friends. I think you really would’ve liked her, I know she would’ve liked you.”

Ellie nodded, climbing over a large log in the middle of the path. “I bet I would’ve.”

A large cliff stopped their tracks, and they could see the whole of Jackson. This time, it was blossoming with spring warmth. Elva looked through it, nodding to Joel and smiling.

“Wow, just a little bit further now.” The older man spoke.

They walked down to a small river, the flowers that had grown over the season growing and brushing against their feet.

Joel jumped up onto a larger ledge, pulling Elva and Ellie up after him. The two adults walked forward, the young girl staying behind for a moment.

“Wait.” She spoke, letting Elva and Joel turn around to face her again. “Back in Boston- back when I was bitten- I wasn’t alone.” She stated, breathing deeply. “My best friend was there, and she got bit too. We didn’t know what to do. So- she says; ‘let’s just wait it out. Y’know, we can be all poetic and just lose our minds together.’.” Ellie sighed. “I’m still waiting for my turn.”

Elva looked at her, a sad frown on her face. “El’-”

“Her name was Riley and she was the first to die.” She spoke, looking to the adults and telling her story. “Then it was Tess, and then Sam.”

“ _None_ of that is on you.” Joel replied firmly.

“No, you don’t understand-”

“I struggled for a long time with survivin’.” He spoke, clutching his watch. “No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for.” Joel stated. “Now, I know that’s not what you want to hear right now, but it’s-”

“Swear to me.” Ellie looked to Elva. “Swear to me that everything you both said about the Fireflies is true.”

Elva paused, breathing in deeply. The guilt was going to eat her alive for the rest of her life, and she knew it. “I swear.” She nodded.

Ellie turned to Joel expectantly.

“I swear.”

★★★★★


	37. ｅｐｉｌｏｇｕｅ

ｅｐｉｐｈａｎｙ  
 **EPILOGUE: APPLE PIE  
** ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Joel never thought he'd settle down, let alone settle down in Jackson, of all places. The guilt of taking Ellie back from the Firefly hospital months ago still ate him alive every living day, but he had learnt to live with it.

Tommy had made fun of him for the first few weeks, claiming that he was right the entire time, that Joel deserved and belonged in the 'apple pie' life.

He woke up, his nights no longer plagued with nightmares. Joel gazed at Elva, who was still asleep next to him. Sun pouring through the windows above them, Joel closed the drapes, letting the woman next to him get a peaceful sleep-in.

The staircase of their home in Jackson was winding and quite small, and he didn't know how he would go about fixing them. Joel used to be a carpenter, everybody knew that, but he didn't have the supplies ready. He'd have to go to the hardware store soon.

Joel laughed at the ironic smell of pie that wafted through the oven, Elva had left it to cool the night before. Tommy would definitely pick on the both for that. He placed one of his mugs underneath his coffee machine and began brewing a beautiful, black cup of joe.

Gazing over the kitchen counters, he spotted the Firefly pendant. The words _Elva Stone_ were engraved on it, along with the six digits he had memorized ever since she had told him she was a Firefly.

It was placed right beside a few picture frames. One of Joel and Sarah, another with Joel, Ellie, and Elva, and a third one with Elva and her own family. More were scattered around the counters, but those three were the most important.

Joel turned his head around as a knocking came from the door, letting him trudge over to it and greet Ellie, who was standing on the other side.

"Hey, Joel!" She greeted him with a smile, inviting herself in. "I was wondering if Elva had anymore of those old movies that I could borrow. You know, like that one with the animated princesses she let me have last week?"

The older man chuckled, leading Ellie towards a large shelf. It was full of DVDs, records, and CDs full of music and movies. "Take what you want, kid, she won't mind." He grinned. Ellie's face lit up with joy as she skimmed through the titles.

Elva's footsteps came down the stairs, Joel turned his head towards her and gave her a soft smile. She grinned in return, kissing his bearded cheek before turning to Ellie. "I'd highly suggest these ones." Elva spoke, pointing towards a small collection of a movie series. "They were amazing. Some of my favourite movies." She smiled.

Ellie beamed eagerly, placing a few in her backpack. Joel walked back into the kitchen, grabbing his own cup of coffee and handing it to Elva before brewing himself another one.

Luckily, he had convinced Tommy not to let the three go on any patrols of any kind until they were properly settled into Jackson. It wasn't very like Joel to request something like that, but he needed a break from killing for a while.

"Okay, that's all I wanted to come in for." Ellie smiled, hugging Elva before stepping towards the front door again. "I'll see you two tonight when I come back."

Ellie lived with Elva and Joel for most of the time, but she usually stayed over at her newfound friend's houses overnight. The two adults couldn't blame her, after all, her whole childhood was stripped from her.

The young girl left the house, shutting the door behind her before leaving. Elva sat down on one of the barstools on their tiny kitchen island, sipping on her mug of coffee and looking at Joel.

"Do you wanna go to the flower shop with me today?" Elva asked. "I need to get a few more potted plants to put around the house and on the porch." She smiled.

Joel nodded. "Of course, I have to go to the hardware store anyway, those damn stairs need to be fixed." He replied.

"Sounds good." Elva smiled. The coffee machine made a light noise, signifying that the hot liquid was ready to drink. Joel took his mug and sat down beside Elva, allowing the steam to warm up his chilled face.

They sat in silence for a few moments, trying not to let it engulf them. Whenever it was the two of them, it was always a comfortable silence. They now knew everything about each other, no stone left unturned. Well, besides the surprise birthday parties and gifts thrown in the mix.

Domestic life was different now. Back before Jackson, 'domestic life' was being able to eat for the night, maybe even drink something if you were lucky. Now, it was having the luxury to go to sleep for the night in a beautiful, comfortable bed.

Elva's eyes gleamed as the sun rose through the window, her blue eyes shining in the light as she talked to Joel. "Do you think we should tell her?" She asked, no real context needed for the question.

He shook his head. "One day, but right now, she needs her life to be normal."

The woman next to him nodded, finishing her coffee and sighing. "I'm just scared that her last words to me will be 'I hate you' if we ever told her." Elva revealed.

Joel grasped onto her hand, holding it tightly. "I promise, she'd never want to leave it like that." He spoke comfortingly. "She loves you so much."

Elva nodded. "I know, it's just- some form of gut feeling I can't get rid of."

The ex-smuggler sighed, nodding and kissing the top of Elva's head. "We'll tell her when the time is right, I swear." He stated.

★★★★★

**Thank you for reading epiphany.  
** **-Grace or Gray**

**Started: October 28th, 2020  
Finished: February 17th, 2021**


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